"Then I must leave," said Hardy; "I could not remain here at your charge. I see I put you to more expenditure than is usual with you, and I could not continue to do so."
"You are, of course, at liberty to leave when you wish," said the Pastor; "but if you will give way in this, I shall feel I have at least recognized in the only way in my power what you have done for me and mine."
There was no doubt of the sincerity of the Pastor's meaning. His open face was as clear to read as print.
Frøken Helga was present at this interview, and Hardy looked at her in the hope of finding in her expression as to what he should do. She was knitting as usual. He thought there was a feeling that she wished the matter should drop, so Hardy said—
"Well, Herr Pastor, all I can say is that the money is at your disposition, and if you refuse to take it when I go away I shall pay it to the Fattigkasse (poor box); and I must insist I have done nothing more than any Englishman would do."
"Good, very good!" said the Pastor. "Let us shake hands, and there is an end of it."
As Hardy took the Pastor's hand, he thought Frøken Helga's face bore an expression of approval, but her retiring manner made it impossible to discover what her thoughts really were.
A few days after, at breakfast, the Pastor said to Hardy, "There is an invitation for you to go to Gods-eier (landowner) Jensen's. They are going to celebrate their silver wedding. They have also invited me and my daughter Helga. Jensen breeds horses, and his reason for asking you is probably because he has heard of your English horse. Niels Jacobsen has talked with him about it. He saw him at a market some days ago. You can, of course, decline; and, at any rate, you can do as you wish. We shall go because they are friends of ours, and it would be a want of respect not to go on such an occasion as a silver wedding. There will be several persons there, and there will be a dinner at about three, and a dance after, in which the younger people will join."
"Thank you," said Hardy; "I should like to see more of Danish society, and I should wish to go for that reason."
John Hardy did not say that he had a strong wish to see Frøken Helga in society. He had seen her only at home, perpetually knitting and occupied in the management of the affairs of the parsonage. He observed, when she expressed a wish, that neither the wayward boys nor the strong-minded Kirstin had the least thought of acting in opposition to it, and he felt an interest in the opportunity of seeing her in society, and observing whether there would be the same unbending nature.