Elsie felt so certain that such a thing could never happen again; she had gone through too much for that.
And now it was so delightful.
As to Svend, Madam had promised herself that if he would be sober and work, she would help them to get married.
And it was that Elsie lay and thought about; and as her strength slowly waxed with good food and treatment, she began in her old way to dream.
But now they were quite different; her dreams from those when she lay in her virgin bed, and did not really comprehend what she was dreaming of.
Now she cast away the horse and swan’s-down and longed for a little house close by the brick-works for Svend and herself, and a big rose-bush in front like those in the bellman’s garden; oh, when she thought of the bellman’s roses! She could almost recall their fragrance so that she could smell them.
She was too young and light-hearted to grieve long because the child was still-born. And when she was up and began to walk around, she felt happier than she had felt for a long time. Her beauty came back, too; her eyes became bright again and her figure rounded.
One evening, when Madam had just gone out on professional calls, Svend came in.
Elsie was much alarmed, for Madam had forbidden her receiving him; she wanted to talk with Svend herself first.
But she could not drive him away; for that matter, he would not let himself be driven away; it was so long since they had seen each other. Loppen appeased herself by resolving that she would tell Madam when she went home, however it went with her.