"Grown lovelier and more beautiful than ever."
At that she leaned her face toward him and he kissed her, and for some moments they could not restrain their fondness. Helga was the first to recover self-possession.
"And now let us talk seriously," she said, but Oscar was still quivering with excitement and, having brushed away his tears, he laughed hysterically.
"How long have you been in London?" he asked.
"A month--a month to-morrow," she replied.
"And to think that I have never known it until now! But how did you come to leave Copenhagen?"
"That's just what I am trying to tell you. My father, for some unknown reason, elected to reduce my mother's income by half, so something had to be done. Then I remembered Neils Finsen and the wonderful things he used to say about my voice."
"Finsen!" repeated Oscar, in a graver tone.
"So I wrote to him, and he answered that if I would come to London he would have experts to hear me, and then they would see what could be done."
"Well? Well?"