Her eyes claimed the truth from the girl, who answered with a sob in her voice.
"He says the fifth day is the decisive day, until then he can't tell."
"Oh, can't he? I can then. I tell you, Ingeborg, this is the end, I shall never recover."
The girl would have protested but such was her own intimate conviction and had been from the first; with her Aunt's eyes on her face she felt the futility of it. A silence fell between them, broken by a sigh from Fru Boyesen.
"Ingeborg!" she said suddenly, "there is something I must do before I go, I have something on my conscience."
"Do you wish me to send for the Herr Pastor, Aunt?"
"The Herr Pastor! This is not a matter for clergymen, this is something that regards me alone. I have been unjust to your sister, Ingeborg—I am an old woman on my death bed, and I see clearly now that I have done wrong. The living may be vindictive, but the dying must make reparation if they would be forgiven. I made a will disinheriting Ragna, I want to destroy that, to reinstate her. She has been wilful, Ingeborg, proud and inconsiderate, she has hurt me more than I can say, but she is young and I am old, it is I who should have known better. Young people will be foolish, it is for us old wise ones to repair the damage done, and I have been a wicked, resentful old woman. 'Judgment is mine, saith the Lord,' and I would have taken it into my own hands. I wished to punish her, and perhaps I have, but I have punished myself far more. Remember this, little Ingeborg, we should leave judgment and condemnation to the Lord,—we should only try to love and help."
She sank back on her pillows, exhausted. Ingeborg put a cup of brandy and water to her lips, saying,
"Hush, Auntie dear, you must not talk so much, you will tire yourself out."
But Fru Boyesen would not be satisfied, she motioned Ingeborg to come near, and whispered into her ear,