“Thanks,” said Peer, lifting his glass and drinking to his host and hostess. “Thanks,” he repeated, bowing to old Uthoug. The matter was arranged. Evidently the two old folks had talked it over together and come to an agreement.
It was settled, but all four felt as if the solid ground were rocking a little under their feet. All their future, their fate, seemed staked upon a throw.
A couple of days later, a day of mild October sunshine, Peer happened to go into the town, and, catching sight of his mother-in-law at the window, he went off and bought some flowers, and took them up to her.
She was sitting looking out at the yellow sky in the west, and she hardly turned her head as she took the flowers. “Thanks, Peer,” she said, and continued gazing out at the sky.
“What are you thinking of, dear mother?” asked Peer.
“Ah! it isn’t a good thing always to tell our thoughts,” she said, and she turned her spectacled eyes so as to look out over the lake.
“I hope it was something pleasant?”
“I was thinking of you, Peer. Of you and Merle.”
“It is good of you to think of us.”
“You see, Peer, there is trouble coming for you. A great deal of trouble.” She nodded her head towards the yellow sky in the west.