Blows, fame and food flung to thee creeping.
But she that loves none shall go weeping!
Fru Adelheid remained sitting with bowed head.
The song had broken her pride. She trembled over all her body and great tears fell upon her hands. She had conjured up spirits which she could not lay; she felt more powerless and small than she had ever felt before.
She began to think of Finn and looked round in alarm. But he could not see her and she wept silently. She laid her forehead against the spinet ... then her hand fell upon the keyboard and she started and rose from her seat.
“That was a strange song,” said Finn.
It was so still in the room that she could not bear it.
“I have not sung it for many years,” she said. “In the old days, I used to sing it often.”
“What was father like when you met him?” asked Finn.
She stood with her back to him and turned the pages of the music with trembling hands.