"Have you been waiting for a conveyance?" asked she.
"No, but for the meat I ordered and had to go without the last time; it came a little while ago."
She said no more, and Skarlie was soon ready.
"Good-by, until I come again!" said he. He had taken up his things, and now stood looking at her.
"Skarlie," said she, "was it you who gave Machine Martha that mark?"
He blinked at her several times, and finally asked: "What harm was there in that, my dear?"
Magnhild grew pale.
"I have often despised you," said she, "but never so much as at this moment."
She turned, went into her bed-room and bolted the door. She heard Skarlie go. Then she threw herself on the bed.
A few bars were struck on the piano above, but no more followed; Tande was probably himself startled at the sound. These bars involuntarily made Magnhild pause. Now she was forced to follow the steps which began afresh. A new tinge of the mysterious, the incomprehensible, had fallen over Tande. She was afraid of him. Before this, she had trembled when he was near at hand; now a thrill ran through her when she merely thought of him.