this myself in the
clay," he replied.

"Oh! you are always so exceedingly gallant!" said mamma; and Kala
gently pressed his hand, to which pieces of clay were sticking.

He discoursed to them about the magnificence of Nature in its
creations, the superiority of the living over the dead, plants over
minerals, animals over plants, human beings over mere animals; how
mind and beauty manifested themselves through form, and that the
sculptor sought to bestow on his forms of clay the greatest possible
beauty and expression.

Kala remained silent, revolving his words. Her mother said,

"It is difficult to follow you; but though my thoughts go slowly, I
hold fast what I hear."

And the power of beauty held him fast; it had subdued him--entranced
and enslaved him. Kala's beauty certainly was extraordinary; it was
enthroned in every feature of her face, in her whole figure, even to
the points of her fingers. The sculptor was bewildered by it; he
thought only of her--spoke only of her; and his fancy endowed her with
all perfection.

Then came the wedding-day, with the bridal gifts and the
bride's-maids; and the marriage ceremony was duly performed. His
mother-in-law had placed in the room where the bridal party assembled
the bust of Thorwaldsen, enveloped in a dressing-gown. "He ought to be
a guest, according to her idea," she said. Songs were sung, and
healths were drunk. It was a handsome wedding, and they were a
handsome couple. "Pygmalion got his Galathea" was a line in one of the
songs.

"That was something from mythology," remarked the widow.

The following day the young couple started for Copenhagen, where they
intended to reside; and the mamma accompanied them, to give them a
helping hand, she said, which meant to take charge of the house. Kala
was to be a mere doll. Everything was new, bright, and charming. There
they settled themselves all three; and Alfred, what can be said of
him, only that he was like a bishop among a flock of geese?

The magic of beauty had infatuated him. He had gazed upon the case,
and not thought of what was in it; and this is unfortunate, very
unfortunate, in the marriage state. When the case decays, and the
gilding rubs off, one then begins to repent of one's bargain. It was
very mortifying to Alfred that in society neither his wife nor his
mother-in-law was capable of entering into general conversation--that
they said very silly things, which, with all his wittiest efforts, he
coul