“Just send it over, and if Femke isn’t here——”
“Where is she going to be?” thought Walter.
“Then I will attend to it myself. I can do it neatly.”
Thank God! Dear, good, magnificent Mrs. Claus! Do it, do it yourself, and leave Femke where she is.
But—where was she?
Thus Walter’s thoughts; but what did he say?—the hypocrite, the budding man.
“Yes, indeed, Mrs. Claus, I had almost forgotten to ask where your daughter Femke is.”
“Femke? She’s at my niece’s, where the girl is sick. You know we’re of good family. Femke is looking after my niece’s children.”
Walter didn’t have the courage to ask where this niece lived, so he assumed a look of contentment.
After much waiting and twisting and turning on his chair, Walter finally left the house with Father Jansen. He had not yet learned how to end a visit: some people never learn it.