Garman And Worse A Norwegian Novel by Alexander Lange Kielland (best ereader for pdf and epub txt) 📕

Worse,  While They Were Going Downstairs,  For Having Joined In So

Opportunely. Worse Himself Could Not Help A Laugh,  In Which All Joined,

Except Aalbom And His Wife,  Who Were Too Much Annoyed To Do So.

Rachel Was Quite Astonished At The Anxiety Displayed By Her Father When

Worse Began To Speak. She Had Herself Once Or Twice Heard Him Take Part

In A Discussion,  And Had Been Surprised At The Way In Which His Feelings

Suddenly Seemed To Get The Better Of Him. There Was,  It Is True,  An

Originality In His Views; But For All That There Was No Reason Why He

Should Be Silent,  And She Thought It Mean Of Jacob Worse To Allow

Himself To Be Put Down So Easily.

During Dinner Pastor Martens Had Made Several Attempts To State His

Views On The Subject,  But Hitherto Without Success. The Others Were Too

Much Taken Up With Their New And Interesting Guest,  And Besides,  His

Neighbour Fully Engrossed His Attention. After Dinner Was Over,  He Had

Again To Take His Place Beside Mrs. Garman On The Sofa,  While The Young

People Went Down To The Croquet Lawn,  Which Was Shaded By The Dense

Avenue Of Limes.

Mr. Aalbom Was Walking Up And Down The Broad Path In Front Of The House,

Encircled By His Wife'S Bony Arm,  As Mr. Delphin Kindly Put It,  While

They Were Waiting For Coffee. He Was Still Annoyed At His Failure,  And

At The Slights He Had Endured,  And His Wife Was Doing Her Utmost To

Pacify Him.

"How Can A Man Of Your Standing Bother About Such Nonsense? These Young

Upstarts Will Only Be Here For A Time. They Will Soon Make Themselves

Unwelcome In Some Way Or Another. There Is No Doubt That We Are

Considered Superior To The Rest. You Must Have Noticed That The Consul

Took Me In To Dinner."

"Nonsense!" Answered Her Husband. "What Have I In common With These

Tradesmen And Their Moneybags? But For A Man Of My Intelligence,  And Of

My Attainments In Literature And Education,  To Have To Put Up With Such

Impertinent Answers From A Set Of Youngsters,  From Such--" And From His

Rich _Repertoire_ Of Abuse The Master Poured Out A Choice Stream Of

Invective,  Which Afforded Some Relief To His Feelings.

The Aalboms Lived About Half-Way Between Sandsgaard And The Town,  Which

Had Been The Original Cause Of Their Being Invited To The Garmans'

House.

Since Then They Had Shown Themselves Such Good Neighbours That The

Garmans Were Generally Glad To Fall Back Upon Them When They Wanted To

Get A Few People Together In a Hurry. Mr. Garman Had Also Assisted The

Master In Some Unexpected Difficulties He Had Encountered In Writing A

Short Paper On The Origin Of The French Language,  And Its Connection

With History. The Pamphlet Was Headed "For Use In Schools," But From

Want Of Perception And Appreciation On The Part Of The Authorities,  This

Pearl Of Literature Had Not Been Taken Into Use In a Single School In

The Country.

Both The Elder Garmans Were In The Habit Of Retiring To Their Rooms And

Taking A Short Nap After Dinner; But On This Occasion They Did Not Sleep

Long,  As They Were Engaged In Talking Over Madeleine'S Projected Visit

To The Town. It Was Arranged That She Was To Come In Two Or Three Days,

And Have A Room Upstairs,  Close By Miss Cordsen'S.

Gabriel,  Having Annexed A Cigar,  Had Wandered Off To The Ship-Yard,  In a

Happy And Contented Mood,  To Make An Inspection Of The Vessel And Talk

English With Mr. Robson.

The First Acquaintance Madeleine Made In Her New Home Was With The

Sewing-Maid,  For Naturally There Were A Good Many Repairs Of Various

Kinds To Be Seen To. She Had Already Made Some Acquaintance With The

Family By Previous Short Visits To Sandsgaard,  And The Same Impression

Of Coldness Which She Had Hitherto Received From Her Relations Still

Oppressed Her. Not That Madeleine Was Of A Timid Nature--Far From It;

But The Change From A Free And Open-Air Life To The Regularity Of A

Well-Ordered House Was Too Abrupt. She Tried In Vain To Adapt Herself To

Her New Surroundings,  And During The First Few Weeks She Fretted Herself

Quite Out Of Health. For A Reason She Could Scarcely Define,  She

Concealed This Fact From Her Father When Writing To Him.

Her Cousin Gabriel Was The Only Person Who Seemed To Have A Friendly

Word For Madeleine; The Others Were So Reserved That She Could Not Help

Thinking They Were Selfish. With Rachel She Could Never Get On Friendly

Terms,  And The Two Cousins Had But Little In common. Although Rachel Was

Only A Few Years The Elder,  She Was Greatly Superior To Her Cousin In

Knowledge And Experience. Whilst Madeleine Was Bright And Radiant As

Sunshine,  There Was Something In Rachel'S Cold And Commanding Nature

Which Betokened An Uneasy Longing For Employment,  And A Desire To Take

An Active Part In Whatever She Could Find To Occupy Her.

Not Long Previously Rachel Had Had A Sharp Dispute With Her Father. She

Came One Day Into The Office,  And Desired Him To Give Her Some

Employment In The Business. Consul Garman Never Lost His Self-Command,

But On This Occasion He Was On The Very Point Of Doing So. The Dispute

Was Short,  It Is True,  And Soon Ended,  Like Every Other Conflict That

Was Carried On Against The Father'S Principles,  In a Decided Victory For

His Side; But From That Time The Daughter Became Still More Cold And

Reserved In Her Manner.

It Was A Light Task For Rachel To Read Her Little Country Cousin Through

And Through,  And When She Made Up Her Mind That Madeleine Had Nothing In

Her Except Perhaps Some Undefined Longings,  But At The Same Time No Real

Desire For Work,  She Let Her Go Her Own Way,  And The Relation Between

Them Became Almost That Of A Child To A Grown Person--Friendly,  But

Without Intimacy.

Mrs. Garman Was Not Particularly Well Disposed Towards Her New Guest,

Because She Had Not Been Originally Consulted As To Her Visit; And Even

The Good-Natured Miss Cordsen Frightened Madeleine At First,  With Her

Tall,  Spare Figure And Well-Starched Cap-Strings.

The Sewing-Maid Was A Pale,  Weakly Creature,  With Large Wondering Eyes

Which Wore A Deprecatory Expression. She Was Still Pretty,  But The First

Look Told That Her Face Had Once Been Still Prettier,  And There Was

Something Stunted And Faded About Her Appearance. Her Cheeks Were

Somewhat Sunken,  And It Could Be Seen That She Had Lost Some Of Her

Teeth.

During The First Few Days Madeleine Had To Spend Much Of Her Time With

The Sewing-Maid,  For Mrs. Garman Was Anxious That Her Dress Should Be In

Keeping With The Rest Of The Establishment,  And The Consul Had Given

Miss Cordsen Strict Orders On The Subject. It Was A Great Relief To

Madeleine,  In Her Loneliness,  To Show Herself Kindly And Almost

Affectionately Disposed Towards The Timid Girl. One Evening When She Had

Gone,  Madeleine Asked Miss Cordsen Who She Was,  And The Old Lady,  After

Scrutinizing Her Sharply,  Answered,  "That Marianne Was A Granddaughter

Of Old Anders Begmand,  And That Some Years Before She Had Had A Baby.

Her Sweetheart," Said Miss Cordsen,  Fixing Her Eyes Again Sharply On

Madeleine,  "Had Gone To America,  And The Child Was Dead,  And As She Had

Been In Service At Sandsgaard,  The Garmans Had Had Her Taught

Dressmaking,  So That Now She Had Constant Employment In The House."

This Was All Madeleine Found Out,  And She Did Not Ask Any More Questions

On The Subject,  Which Was A Relief To Miss Cordsen.

The Old Lady'S Story Was,  However,  Not Strictly Correct In Its Details;

A Secret Of The Garman Family Was Hid In The Sempstress'S History--A

Secret Which Miss Cordsen Concealed With The Greatest Jealousy.

As Marianne Went Home That Evening This Event Came Into Her Thoughts; It

Was,  In Fact,  Never Entirely Absent From Them. The Bright And Friendly

Manner Of Madeleine,  Who Was So Unlike The Rest Of Her Family,  Had Awoke

In Her Many Reminiscences. She Felt Quite Sure That Madeleine Did Not As

Yet Know All Her History; It Was Impossible That She Could Know It,  For

She Seemed So Kindly Disposed Towards Her,  And Marianne Dreaded That Any

One Should Tell Her. There Were,  Indeed,  Plenty Of People Who Could Tell

Her Story,  But None Knew What She Had Suffered. As She Went On Her Way

All The Sad Events Of Her Life'S Misfortune Seemed To Pass In Review

Before Her. Her First Thought Was,  How Handsome He Looked When He Came

Home From Abroad,  Before There Was Any Talk About His Marriage With The

Magistrate'S Daughter! How Long He Had Prayed And Tormented Her,  And How

Long She Had Striven Against Him; And Then Came The Dreadful Day,  When

She Had Been Called Into The Consul'S Private Office. She Never Could

Imagine How Any One Had Found It Out; The Only One Who Could Know

Anything Was Miss Cordsen: But Still Less Could She Now Understand How

She Had Allowed Herself To Be Talked Over,  And Compelled To Agree To

What Had Since Been Arranged. There Must Be Truth In What People Said,

That It Was Impossible To Resist The Young Consul,  And So She Allowed

Herself To Be Betrothed To Christian Kusk,  One Of The Worst Men She

Knew,  Who Shortly After Went To America; Then The Child Was Born,  And

Was Christened Christian. Then Again She Recalled That Night When The

Child Died; But All Further Impressions Became Indistinct And Hazy As

Mist. She Had Hoped That Her