"It doesn't matter. I shall not marry her, as she does not care for me, nor can I marry anyone else."
Hildur raised her head. It was not easy to tell what was taking place in her. At this moment she felt that she, the rich farmer's daughter, with all her beauty and all her possessions, was nothing to Gudmund. She was proud and did not wish to part from him without teaching him that she had a value of her own, apart from all the external things. "I want you to tell me, Gudmund, if it is Helga from Big Marsh whom you love."
Gudmund was silent.
"It was she who came to me and taught me what I should do that all might be well between us. She knew you were innocent, but she did not say so to you. She let me know it first."
Gudmund looked her steadily in the eyes. "Do you think this means that she has a great affection for me?"
"You may be sure of it, Gudmund. I can prove it. No one in the world could love you more than she does."
He walked rapidly across the floor and back, then he stopped suddenly before Hildur. "And you—why do you tell me this?"
"Surely I do not wish to stand beneath Helga in magnanimity!"
"Oh, Hildur, Hildur!" he cried, placing his hands on her shoulders and shaking her to give vent to his emotion. "You don't know, oh, you don't know how much I like you at this moment! You don't know how happy you have made me!"
Helga sat by the roadside and waited. With her cheek resting on her hand, she sat and pictured Hildur and Gudmund together and thought how happy they must be now.