"Who, sir? Oh, Oscar Stephenson? He did--a girl."
"She's living, too, isn't she?"
"She is, sir--that is to say, for all I know to the contrary. Rector, Oscar's little daughter is still alive, is she not?"
"Alive and well and hearty," said the Rector.
Christian Christiansson's eyes brightened visibly. "That's good news, at all events," he said.
The altered tone startled everybody, and nobody spoke for a little while. Then the Minister said:
"It is really very good of you to take an interest in the family of your poor dead confrère, and if I'd had the least idea you wished to hear more about them it would have been so easy--I might have invited the banker."
"I'll see him to-morrow," said Christian Christiansson, and then, breaking through his reserve, he talked for the next half-hour on other subjects.
He talked well and the company were delighted, for there was no one to know that his vivacity was nervousness and his laughter something like shame. When the dinner was at an end the Bishop, who had fixed his eyes constantly on Christian Christiansson, rose and held out his hand to him.
"It has been a great happiness to have seen you, Mr. Christiansson," he said, "and I trust we may meet again. I know nothing of music, sir, but I rejoice to see that the noble musician is only another name for the noble man, and I pray God to bless you body and soul."