belief that a man must
neither beg anything of a woman, nor force anything from her. Women are
generous--they will give you what they can. I sealed my letter, and
posted it myself. All the way down I kept on saying to myself, 'She must
come--surely she will come!'"

VII

"I was in high spirits, but the next moment trembled like a man with
ague. I reached the orchard before my time. She was not there. You
know what it is like to wait? I stood still and listened; I went to the
point whence I could see farthest; I said to myself, 'A watched pot never
boils; if I don't look for her she will come.' I walked up and down with
my eyes on the ground. The sickness of it! A hundred times I took out
my watch.... Perhaps it was fast, perhaps hers was slow--I can't tell you
a thousandth part of my hopes and fears. There was a spring of water, in
one corner. I sat beside it, and thought of the last time I had been
there--and something seemed to burst in me. It was five o'clock before I
lost all hope; there comes a time when you're glad that hope is dead, it
means rest. 'That's over,' you say, 'now I can act.' But what was I to
do? I lay down with my face to the ground; when one's in trouble, it's
the only thing that helps--something to press against and cling to that
can't give way. I lay there for two hours, knowing all the time that I
should play the coward. At seven o'clock I left the orchard and went
towards the inn; I had broken my word, but I felt happy.... I should see
her--and, sir, nothing--nothing seemed to matter beside that. Tor was in
the garden snipping at his roses. He came up, and I could see that he
couldn't look me in the face. 'Where's my wife?' I said. He answered,
'Let's get Lucy.' I ran indoors. Lucy met me with two letters; the
first--my own--unopened; and the second, this:

"'I have left you. You were good to me, but now--it is no use.
EILIE.'"

"She told me that a boy had brought a letter for my wife the day before,
from a young gentleman in a boat. When Lucy delivered it she asked, 'Who
is he, Miss Eilie? What will Mr. Brune say?' My wife looked at her
angrily, but gave her no answer--and all that day she never spoke. In the
evening she was gone, leaving this note on the bed.... Lucy cried as if
her heart would break. I took her by the shoulders and put her from the
room; I couldn't bear the noise. I sat down and tried to think. While I
was sitting there Tor came