He went all through the house at once—into the parlour, out into the kitchen, then to the rooms upstairs—in his fur coat and overboots.
“Where's Fruen?” he asked.
“Fruen went to meet Captain,” answered Ragnhild. “We thought she'd be coming back now as well.”
The Captain's head bowed forward a little. Then cautiously he began questioning.
“You mean she drove with Nils to the station? Stupid of me not to have looked about while I was there!”
“No,” said Ragnhild; “it was Sunday Fruen went.”
At this the Captain pulled himself together. “Sunday?” he said. “Then she must have been going to meet me in Kristiania. H'm! We've managed to miss each other somehow. I had to make another little journey yesterday, out to Drammen—no, Frederikstad, I mean. Get me something to eat, will you?”
“Værsaagod, it's already laid.”
“It was the day before yesterday, by the way, I went out there. Well, well, she'll have had a little outing, anyhow. And how's everything going on? Are the men at work on the trench?”
“They've finished it, I think.”