Madame van Raat brought out her glasses and her crochet-work, while Betsy sat down in front of the tea-tray, glittering with silver and china. She talked about all the doings of the day; of the ball at the Eekhofs’ the other night, which she had enjoyed very much.
“And you as well, Elly?” asked the old lady.
“Yes, first-rate. I had a splendid dance, and the cotillon was very, very jolly.”
“And you, Henk?”
“Oh, Henk!”
Betsy and Eline both laughed. Eline exclaimed that he was much too stout to dance; a minuet he might perhaps do very nicely, and of course she was aware that was coming into fashion again. Madame van Raat joined in the laughter, and Henk, quite unconcerned, sat drinking his tea, when there was a ring at the bell, and Paul entered.
He told them that he had just come from the Prince-gracht, from Hovel’s; he wanted to call on him last night, but he had met Vincent Vere in the Hoogstraat, and so he had postponed his visit to go and drink a glass of wine in Vincent’s lodgings, with a few acquaintances. Hovel he thought a very nice man indeed, and he had arranged to begin his work at his office the following Monday.
Madame van Raat involuntarily heaved a sigh of gratitude that the long-talked-about visit had at last been paid. The last time she had seen her brother-in-law, Verstraeten, she thought she could detect something like annoyance when he spoke of Paul, and in matters relating to her youngest son she depended a good deal on the aid of Verstraeten, who had been Paul’s guardian during his minority.
As she heard Paul speaking, Betsy felt as though there was something very incongruous about the way Henk “fooled” away his time with his horse and his dogs. But what was she to do? she had [[65]]spoken to him so repeatedly, and certainly the present moment, with Madame van Raat there, was hardly the time to mention it.
“Come, Paul,” Eline cried, all at once, “shall we sing something?”