A warm flush spread over the woman's cheeks, and she stepped forward without hesitation to greet the newcomer.
"Welcome, Olof," she said, with frank kindness, though her voice trembled slightly. "And is it really you? Sit down.'"
But Olof stood still, unable to recover himself.
"I dare say you're surprised to—to find me here," went on the woman, trying to speak easily and naturally, though her features and the look in her eyes revealed a certain emotion. "I have been here for four years now." She stopped, and cast down her eyes in confusion.
"Really—four years, is it as long as that…?" Olof stammered out the words awkwardly, and could say no more.
"But you've heard no news of me, I suppose, and my being here. I knew a little about you, though—that you had come back and were living near…."
"Yes, yes…. No, I had no idea … I came prepared to find only strangers, and then … to meet you here … so far from…."
"Yes, it is a long way from my home." The woman grasped eagerly at something to talk of. "And it's all so different here, though it's not so far, after all, counting the miles. It was very strange and new at first, of course, but now I like it well enough. And we often go over to the old place, and father and mother come to see us here…."
"Yes, yes…. And how are they at home? Your mother and father?" Olof asked, with a ring of pleasant recollection in his voice.
"Finely, thank you. Father was bad for a time last winter, but he's got over it now, or nearly…."