He thanked her. They walked on together silently until they came to where he had been lying. Then he hastily asked:
"How are things going at home?"
She smiled. "Thank you, really well, considering everything."
The smoke from the chimney curled into the air. The roofs with their glazed blue tiles looked affluently comfortable. The large gardens on both sides with their gravel walks lay like striped wings outstretched from the houses. The whole had an air of life, as if it might rise into the air at any moment.
"Had you been lying long here?" Mary asked unmercifully; she regarded Jörgen's mood as a species of possession.
He did not answer. She set off on the last, very steep part of the descent.
"Shall I help you?"
"No, thank you; I have come down here oftener than you."
It was a silent repast. Jörgen always ate slowly, but never had he eaten so slowly as to-day. Mary despatched each course quickly, and then sat and watched him, making an occasional remark, which was politely answered. His eyes, which generally swept over her like waves, ready to draw her in, had difficulty to-day in rising higher than the plate before them. Stopping suddenly, he said: "Are you not well?"
"Yes, thank you; but I have had enough."