“You ought to say ‘Uncle,’ Bernhard,” he said, “you ought to say ‘Uncle.’”
Laura could not suppress a little anxious snigger. But Stellan did not move a feature. He came close up to Bernhard:
“I advise you to be careful,” he said. “I have collected some information about you in Majängen and know exactly how you stand with the police.”
Bernhard bit his nails, frightened and furious. He looked again at Peter, who now blinked with both his eyes, and lay down comfortably as if to listen to music. And Bernhard did not disappoint his expectations, but stared Stellan boldly in the face:
“No, Uncle dear, don’t come in here with the police for here you see one of the family....”
Stellan turned grey, but still controlled himself:
“I couldn’t think of bandying words with you. But if you behave decently we might perhaps compensate you for the vain hopes my brother may have raised. What would you say to a couple of thousand-crown notes and a ticket to America?”
Peter smiled:
“You want him to go to America, do you? So that he might join Laura’s Georg, is that it? Well, Bernhard, what do you say to America and the cash? A fine offer, eh?”
“No, thanks, America does not suit me at all.”