Pattern Wife After His Own Heart, He Must Get Her Away From Sandsgaard.
With The Same Object In View, He Sought, And Standing As Well As He Did
With Those In authority, Soon Obtained, A Living At Some Distance In The
Country; And, A Year After His Betrothal, He Celebrated His Marriage At
His Mother'S House.
After His Ride Along The Shore, George Delphin Suffered From A Dangerous
Attack Of Inflammation Of The Lungs. His Illness Lasted So Long That A
Substitute Had To Be Provided For The Time In The Magistrate'S Office;
And As Soon As He Recovered Sufficiently To Write, He Informed The
Magistrate That He Wished To Resign His Situation. The Magistrate
Accepted His Resignation With Alacrity, For George Delphin Had Never
Been The Kind Of Man He Liked.
Chapter 24 Pg 155
Than At An Ordinary _Pension;_ But I Am Almost Certain That Both Mr. And
Mrs. Barnett, Who Is A French Lady, Are The Sort Of People You Will
Like. And It Is Exactly In The American Society Of Paris That You Will
Have The Best Opportunity Of Finding Employment If You Wish For It. At
Any Rate, You Can Stay Some Time In Mr. Barnett'S House, Until You Find
Something Else You Prefer."
His Tone Was Deliberate And Decided, As If He Already Regarded The
Matter As Finally Settled; And When Rachel Got Up To Take Her Leave She
Found That Her Mind Was Already Made Up, Without Being Conscious Of How
She Had Arrived At Her Conclusion. She Looked Forward To A New And More
Active Life, With Mingled Feelings Of Expectation And Pleasure. But At
The Same Time She Was Somewhat Hurt--No, Not Hurt, But Sad--No, Not
Exactly Sad, Either; But She Could Not Help Thinking It Was
Extraordinary, That He Should Show Himself So Eager To Get Her Away.
Jacob Worse Followed Her To The Door Leading Into The Street, But When
She Had Gone He Did Not Go Back To The Office, But Crossed Over The Yard
To His Mother'S.
A Month Later, Gabriel And Rachel Set Off Under The Escort Of Old
Svendsen; Gabriel To Dresden, And Rachel To Paris. Madeleine Also
Quitted Sandsgaard. Her Intended Had Arranged, With The Assistance Of
The Doctor, That She Should Go To The Baths Of Modum, Where Martens'S
Mother, Who Was The Widow Of A Clergyman From The East Coast, Was To
Take Care Of Her.
Uncle Richard Was Utterly Confounded When He Heard Madeleine Was Going
To Marry A Clergyman, And He Had A Kind Of Dim Feeling That He Would
Have Done Better To Have Kept Her Under The Observation Of The Big
Telescope. But The Old Gentleman, Who Had Never Been Very Strong-Minded,
Had Become Still More Feeble In His Sorrow, And Now That He Could No
Longer Go To Christian Frederick For Advice, He Gave Way In everything.
As For Madeleine Herself, The Exhaustion Which Followed Her Illness Had
Produced A Feeling Of Indifference; And Now That The Important Step Had
Once Been Taken, She Allowed Herself To Be Led Without Offering Any
Opposition, And Did Not Find It Disagreeable, When The Pastor Took Upon
Himself To Think And Act For Her In everything. But When It Came To
Saying Good-Bye To Her Father She Gave Way, And Was Carried Senseless To
The Carriage.
Martens Soon Found That If He Wished To Educate Madeleine To Be A
Pattern Wife After His Own Heart, He Must Get Her Away From Sandsgaard.
With The Same Object In View, He Sought, And Standing As Well As He Did
With Those In authority, Soon Obtained, A Living At Some Distance In The
Country; And, A Year After His Betrothal, He Celebrated His Marriage At
His Mother'S House.
After His Ride Along The Shore, George Delphin Suffered From A Dangerous
Attack Of Inflammation Of The Lungs. His Illness Lasted So Long That A
Substitute Had To Be Provided For The Time In The Magistrate'S Office;
And As Soon As He Recovered Sufficiently To Write, He Informed The
Magistrate That He Wished To Resign His Situation. The Magistrate
Accepted His Resignation With Alacrity, For George Delphin Had Never
Been The Kind Of Man He Liked.
Chapter 24 Pg 156
During The Whole Time Of The Illness, Fanny Was In a State Of Nervous
Excitement. To Visit The Invalid, Or Put Herself In any Sort Of
Communication With Him, Was Quite Out Of The Question. She Had Thus To
Content Herself With Such News As She Could Pick Up, Either Accidentally
Or Through Morten; But She Dared Not Ask As Many Questions As She Could
Have Wished. One Day When She Was Standing Before The Glass, She
Discovered Three Small Wrinkles At The Corner Of Her Left Eye. When She
Laughed, They Improved Her; But When She Was Serious, They Made Her Look
Old. Nothing Seemed To Suit Her Any Longer, Not Even Mourning, In Which
She Had Always Looked Her Best. Fanny, In Fact, Suffered As Much As She
Was Capable Of Suffering, And One Day She Received A Note From Him, In
Which He Said Adieu.
"I Start To-Night, And Say Farewell Thus To Spare Us Both A Painful
Parting. Farewell!" This Was All The Note Contained.
Her Lovely Complexion Turned Almost To An Ashen Grey, But Only For A
Moment. The Whole Night She Lay Awake, Listening To Her Husband, Who Lay
Breathing Heavily By Her Side; But The Next Morning Found Her Sitting By
Her Window, As Calm And Bright As Ever. Many Of Her Friends, As She Had
Expected, Came To Visit Her, But She Disappointed Them All. Delphin'S
Sudden Departure Was A Subject Of Conversation In Which She Joined,
Jesting And Laughing As Usual. Her Friends Could Perceive No Change In
Her, And Yet How Much Scandal Had Been Talked About Her And Delphin! It
Was A Lesson To People To Keep Their Tongues To Themselves.
But Fanny Herself Noticed Several Changes In Her Appearance, And Was
Reminded Of It Every Time She Saw Her Reflection In The Glass.
In Small Circles Great Events Seem To Come All At Once, One After
Another In Startling Succession. The Worthy Town Had Been Quite Upset By
All Those Remarkable Events, Of A Joyful, Mournful, Or Mixed Nature,
Which Followed After The Night Of The Fire At Sandsgaard; And While Busy
Tongues Kept Reverting To The Materials For Gossip Thus Provided, The
Years Rolled By Without Anything Further Taking Place.
Tom Robson Had Taken Martin With Him To
