These thoughts, having been once roused, would not be repressed again.  They held possession of her during the following day too; and she could settle down to no work of any kind.  She dreaded that Salve might unexpectedly return, and did not know how she should receive him,—­she no longer felt sure of being able to control herself.  Her own house had all of a sudden become confined and suffocating, as if it were a prison in which she had sat for years:  it seemed as if she could bear this way of living no longer.

On one of the following days a neighbour came in with a message from her aunt.  She was ill, and wished Elizabeth to come and see her.

Leaving word, accordingly, for Salve when he returned, where she was gone, she took Henrik with her, and set out at once for Arendal.  It was almost a relief to think that she would be away this time when he came home.

That old Mother Kirstine should be laid up, was, in its way, an event in the place.  Having been professed sick-nurse for so many years, she was connected by ties of grateful recollection with a number of families.  Men who were now fathers themselves remembered well her face bending over them when as children they had tossed about in measles or fever; and when any more serious illness now occurred in any of their households, she appeared upon the scene as a matter of course without waiting to be sent for.  And it was a comfort in itself to see that strong, self-possessed old woman, with her quiet experienced tact and untiring faculty of keeping awake, moving about the sick-bed, and giving her directions with a confidence that brooked no contradiction.  Her position, in fact, was such, that when a new doctor arrived he soon perceived that the first thing he had to do, if he was to have any reputation in the town, would be to win the confidence of old Mother Kirstine.

Young Fru Beck, amongst others, had constantly sent to inquire after her; and when she heard that Elizabeth was there, she could not resist the opportunity of going to see her.

It was one evening before dinner—­Mother Kirstine had fallen into a quiet sleep, and Elizabeth was sitting by her bedside, when she saw Fru Beck pass the window.  Elizabeth knew she would come in, and sat with beating heart waiting for her knock at the door.

Fru Beck must have stood a long while in the porch, for some minutes passed before the latch was stirred.  Elizabeth went softly out and opened the door.

They stood face to face.  Elizabeth’s eyes were full of tears, but Fru Beck’s feelings were not at that moment so easily expressed.  She silently pressed Elizabeth’s hand, and her manner, and the expression of her pale face, showed that she was not the less moved of the two at their meeting again.

Elizabeth showed her into Mother Kirstine’s comfortable little kitchen, where a saucepan of broth for her sick aunt was simmering over the fire.  She invited her visitor to take a seat.  It was so quiet that they could hear the watch ticking in the next room where her aunt was sleeping.