A Danish Parsonage Part 31

"It is her simple naturalness that makes her say that, John," said Mrs. Hardy. "She sees in me what she thinks a perfect woman, although I am an ordinary Englishwoman; while she does not understand the rougher nature men possess. Her thorough truth in thought and feeling is her greatest charm."

Axel, however, put his oar in. "Why, father how can Helga say Herr Hardy is not as good as Fru Hardy? He gave her a toilet box with costly things in it."

"Yes, little father, it is true," said Helga; "but it was too costly a present, and I did not like to accept it."

When dinner was over, Mrs. Hardy told her son to go on deck, and take Axel with him. She then asked Helga to show her father the dressing-case John Hardy had given her. The Pastor started when he read the initials, "H. H." His quick apprehension realized the position.

"Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "our children leave us as we grow older; and is there any better wish for them than that they should have a happy future?"

Mrs. Hardy held out her hand, and Pastor Lindal grasped it. He understood her, and, with the ceremonious politeness habitual to him, raised her hand to his lips.

"I think," said Mrs. Hardy, "they can be married on the first of August. There is no reason to delay the happiness of their young life.

They can remain near you at Rosendal for a month, and come to England for the winter, and return to you in May."

Helga was present, and heard all Mrs. Hardy had said. She put one hand on her father's shoulder.

"Father," she said in Danish, "I will wait your wish and time."

"Mrs. Hardy is right, Helga," said her father, "I shall miss you, but it will be a joy to me to lose you to Hardy. He is the one man I like, and I hope he is the one man you love."

"I can never forget how we wronged him, when Rasmussen was injured and died, and how n.o.ble he has always been!" said his daughter. "I have been unkind and bad to him, and I now know pained him with what I said. Little father, what you say I should do that will I do."

"Mrs. Hardy," said the Pastor, "my daughter a.s.sents to what you propose, and I a.s.sent. You can order the matter as you will."

"I will promise you. Pastor Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, "that all the time she can she shall be in Denmark, and that I will be to her as her own mother." Mrs. Hardy held out her hand to the Pastor, and the compact then made ever after was adhered to.

Mrs. Hardy rose, and kissed Helga on her flaxen hair. "Will you tell John, or I?" she asked.

"I cannot," replied Helga, earnestly.

"Then, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "we will go on deck, and I should like a walk about Aarhus, if you will take me, and John can take his wife that is to be."

When Mrs. Hardy came on deck, she said to her son, "The first of August, John; it is so settled."

John Hardy lifted his mother from the deck, and positively kissed her in the sight of his own men and a numerous crowd of curious Danes, who had collected to see the yacht, and f Helga had not jumped ash.o.r.e, it was not at all improbable but that she might have shared the same fate.

The trust and confidence the mother and son had in each other was a comfort to the Pastor. It was the best guarantee for Helga's future.

"It is late," said the Pastor; "but I know the clerk at the Domkirke (cathedral), and you can possibly see it."

The advantage of seeing the Domkirke with the Pastor was obvious to Mrs. Hardy, and they were much interested in the details he gave of the old vestments preserved in the Domkirke and the ancient folding pictures at the altar, the date of which is 1479, but the pictures are Italian and older.

"The old church tradition," said the Pastor, "is that the patron saint, St. Clement, after suffering martyrdom, came ash.o.r.e after floating about the sea for eleven hundred years, bound to a s.h.i.+p's anchor, which circ.u.mstance is delineated in more than one place in the Domkirke. One of the stories of the Domkirke is recorded on a stone,"

continued the Pastor. "It is the figure of a woman with a hole in her left breast. She was shot by a rejected lover, as she went to the Domkirke to attend the church service of the times. The stone must have been once in an horizontal position, as it is worn as if it had been placed at the entrance of the Domkirke, as is believed to be the case, and much trodden on."

"Are there more stories connected with the Domkirke?" asked Mrs. Hardy.

"Yes, many," replied the Pastor. "There is the story of the monks being killed by bricks falling on them from the arched roof, when playing cards behind the altar. There is also the story of a large hunting horn, which is said to be now preserved in one of our museums, which horn was used at the evening service before Good Friday, in catholic times. It was blown through a hole in the roof of the Domkirke, and the words shouted as loud as possible, 'Evig forbandet vaere, Judas' (For ever may Judas be accursed). There is also the monument of Laurids Ebbesen who had been unfaithful to the king, who, when he visited the Domkirke, cut the nose off the monumental figure with his sword. The s.h.i.+p which is hung up in the Domkirke, is a model which Peter the Great of Russia had made in France, and it was sent by a French vessel from Toulon, which was wrecked at the Scaw, or, as we call it, Skagen. The cargo of the s.h.i.+p was sold by auction. A seaman of Aarhus bought the model, which is that of a s.h.i.+p of war with seventy-four cannon, and gave it to the Domkirke, at Whitsuntide, 1720."

"Thank you very much, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy.

It must, however, be recorded that notwithstanding the interest John Hardy had in such lore as the Pastor possessed in such rich abundance, he was very much interested in another direction. At length, after much absorbing contemplation, he said, "I never saw such blue as there is in your eyes, Helga!"

The next day they returned to Rosendal, and Pastor Lindal to his parsonage with Helga. He had been pleased with his berth on board the yacht, and the comfortable opportunity the deck-house afforded for holding a tobacco-parliament, which Mrs. Hardy bore with much patience.

As the yacht was at Aarhus, Mrs. Hardy wished to make a tour amongst the Danish islands before sending it to Esbjerg.

"I think, John," she said, "that to-morrow we will invite Pastor Lindal and Helga to dinner, and we will talk over the arrangements for your wedding. I should not offer to give her a wedding outfit, as I think she would not like it. I should give her a good watch and chain, as a wedding present, and lockets to the two Miss Jensens. It is clear that the quieter the wedding is the more likely to meet the Pastor's wishes and his daughter's."

"I think," said John, "that you are right, but I should wish to let Helga know that I would bear any expense they wished. I should be so glad if you would say so to her, mother. When we were at Christiania, I wanted her to let me get her gloves or anything else she might wish for, and she said 'You need not try to buy my goodwill, John; you possess it' but she used a Danish word which 'goodwill' does not translate."

"I had better ascertain their wishes, John," said his mother, "and say we only wish to further them; and this once settled, you must come with me on board the yacht, so that your mother may have her own boy with her for a while. It will be better for you, as here you would be restless; and as to your plans for teaching Helga to ride, you can do so after you are married and are staying here."

John caressed his mother and a.s.sented.

Helga had filled the porcelain pipe after dinner, and Mrs. Hardy and Pastor Lindal sat in a garden seat in the grounds at Rosendal, the day following the decision of Mrs. Hardy's views for her son's wedding.

"We should wish to obey any wishes you may have, Herr Pastor, as to the wedding," said Mrs. Hardy, after a general conversation with him.

"John will remain at Rosendal for a month, and then go to England for the winter, and come to you again in May."

The Pastor took several long pulls at his pipe and created a cloud of smoke. At last he said--

"I have not thought of it, Mrs. Hardy." And it was plain he had not.

"I will, then, say what I think," said she. "The wedding should be at your church; and will you marry them?"

"Certainly; it is my intention," he replied.

"The wedding to be as quiet as possible," continued Mrs. Hardy, "and proprietor Jensen's daughters to be bridesmaids; and John has an old college friend who will come here to be his best man, and will return with me to England in the yacht, from Esbjerg."

Mrs. Hardy's practical common sense impressed the Pastor; he a.s.sented sadly.

"There is nothing to mourn over or regret, Herr Pastor, and you will feel the constant joy of knowing that she is happy with the man of her choice, and that as long as I live I will watch over her as my own; also the pleasure of looking forward to her stay in Denmark every summer will occupy and interest you."

The Pastor smoked in silence, but his heart was sad.

It was fortunate that John and Helga appeared, the latter laden with blooms gleaned in the valley of roses. Her face was bright with happiness.

"Mrs. Hardy," she said, "John has persisted in picking rose after rose, holding them up to my cheek and telling me that I am the fairest rose, and that I am going to be the rose of Rosendal, and has teased me dreadfully."

"I think John is right to say so, and to say so to you," said Mrs. Hardy, smiling kindly at her.

The Pastor felt what Mrs. Hardy had once said, that we should love with our children's love, and the sadness left his face. He began to share his daughter's love for Hardy.

Mrs. Hardy rose from her seat, and drew Helga away, and John had to be content to follow her with his eyes only.

"Your father, Helga, last year, went for a tour with John; can he do the same now? On Monday, I am going with John in the yacht for a cruise amongst the Danish islands," said Mrs. Hardy, "do you think he would like to go with us? It would allow of his being better acquainted with us, and would distract his thoughts from dwelling on your leaving him."