She did not stay long--only a few days; then she went back to
Kristianssand--that was where she lived. The air here did not agree with
her, she said.
Ah, that great scene! A bitter final reckoning that lasted over an hour--
Ragnhild told us all about it afterwards. Neither the Captain nor Fruen
raised their voices, but the words came slow and strong. And in their
bitterness the pair of them agreed to go each their own way from now on.
"Oh, you don't say so!" cried all in the kitchen, clasping their hands.
Ragnhild drew herself up and began mimicking:
"'You've been breaking into the summer-house again with some one?' said
the Captain. 'Yes,' said Fruen. 'And what more?' he asked. 'Everything,'
said she. The Captain smiled at that and said: 'There's something frank
and open about an answer like that; you can see what is meant almost at
once.' Fruen said nothing to that. 'What you can see in that young puppy,
I don't know--though he did help me once out of a fix.' Fruen looked at
him then, and said: 'Helped you?' 'Yes,' said the Captain; 'backed a bill
for me once.
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