"Come, live with me and be my love.
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That valleys, groves, or hills, or field,
Or woods and sleepy mountains yield."
_The Complete Angler._
Helga wrote her father as follows:--
"My All-dearest Father,
"You were written to that we were going to Christiania from Elsinore.
I did not know that it was so far, but the steamship Herr Hardy has
sails as fast as the steamer from Aarhus to Copenhagen, and everything
is so clean and nice, and seeing fresh places, has been a great
pleasure. Mrs. Hardy has been, as Karl said, as kind as any one could
be, and I cannot say how grateful I am to her. We are to go to
Oscarshall to-day and many other places in Christiania; and Mr. Hardy
has asked me to write and say that we shall leave here to-morrow, and
shall call at Fredrikshavn and telegraph to you from there the time we
may expect to be at Aarhus, and they think you might like to come and
see the steamer, and stay the night on board, and return home the next
day with us. Herr Hardy has written a letter, which I enclose, as he
said you might wish to hear from him to say how glad his mother would
be to see you on English ground, as an English ship is as English
land. If you can come, dear little father, I should be so glad! I hope
Kirstin has managed everything for you in my absence. She said I was
wrong to go away from you, and perhaps I am, and it is a sad thought
to me; but it is not for long, and if I have been led away to do what
is not fitting, you will tell me, and I will do what you say. Axel is
very happy on board. Herr Hardy is very good to him, and his men are
so friendly and teach him how to tie knots and go fishing with him,
that he is very happy all day long.
"Mrs. Hardy greets you kindly, and Herr Hardy says I must say that he
thanks you for teaching him to love what is good and true. Live well,
little father.
"Your daughter,
"Helga Lindal."
John Hardy gave directions that the yacht should fill up with coal and
supplies; and in the two days they were at Christiania, a good deal
was seen. There is much to see, and much of natural beauty in
Christiania, and Helga was interested. When they got under way and
steamed down the Christiania Fjord and saw the effect of the sun
setting, which then had its special beauty, Helga thought she had
never seen anything so lovely.
"No! not even Rosendal?" asked John.
"Rosendal has its own charm," replied Helga; "there can be other
places that have their singular beauty."
"I am so glad that you say that," said Hardy. "You may even come to
think that the place where my fathers have lived in England has its
charm;" and he held her face in his hands, and looked into her eyes.
"I have promised to marry you, John," said Helga, "and it is not
whether your house is beautiful or not; wherever you live I will give
my life to you."
"Bless you, dearest," said John, "I will never forget what you say;"
and he never did.
When the yacht had cleared the Christiania Fjord, the night was fine
and clear, but a breeze sprang up from the westward, and grew fresher
towards morning. This had the effect of sending the yacht along under
sail and steam, and at eight o'clock the next day the pilot was sent
ashore at Frederikshavn with a telegram for Pastor Lindal, that they
hoped to arrive at Aarhus at six in the evening.
"When are you going to marry your Scandinavian princess, John?" asked
Mrs. Hardy, when she was settled in her usual place on deck.
"I am afraid to say anything, mother, to Helga," replied her son. "I
see there does exist a doubt in her mind as to whether she is not
doing what is wrong in leaving her father for this cruise, much more a
cruise for life. I fear to approach the subject with her, as it may
lead to her entertaining a fixed determination not to marry until her
father's death."
"There is no selfishness about Pastor Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, "and,
moreover, he is a sensible man. He is certain to desire that his
daughter should be well and happily provided for; besides, he has seen
enough of you, John, to value you, and I see he likes you. I think you
are right not to speak to Helga on the subject; leave it to me and
Pastor Lindal."
"Thank you, mother, a thousand times," said John. "I understand you
perfectly well, and I will do anything you think best or shall
arrange."
"What I have thought of, John, is this," said his mother: "you can be
married, say, the first of August, and remain at Rosendal for your
honeymoon, and then come home to Hardy Place."
"And what will you do, mother?" asked John.
"I see you do not want your own mother in the way during the
honeymoon," said Mrs. Hardy, smiling. "You can send the yacht round to
Esbjerg, and I will meet it by rail as soon as you are married, and
return home in the yacht to Harwich."
"What! go home alone, mother?" said John. "I cannot let you do that!"
"Well, you can see me safely off at Esbjerg, John," said Mrs. Hardy,
"But this is the way that will please me best, and I wish to give you
a welcome home with your wife, and I long to see her at the head of
the table at Hardy Place."
"You are the same good mother, ever;" and John took his mother's hand
and kissed it.
As soon as the entrance of the outer harbour at Aarhus could be made
out, John Hardy went on the bridge with his binocular, and
distinguished Pastor Lindal's head appearing over the parapet wall at
the pierhead.
"Your father is on the pier, Helga, and you can see him with this
glass," said Hardy, handing her his binocular. This she found
difficult to do, as there were so many other heads appearing; but all
doubt was at an end as the yacht glided past the pierhead of the outer
harbour, for there was the worthy Pastor himself.
The yacht was soon brought to, and Pastor Lindal stepped on deck, to
be met with much affection from his daughter and Axel. It was clear to
Mrs. Hardy that Helga's attachment to her father was one of simple
trust in each other, the same as existed between herself and her own
boy John.
The Pastor was ceremoniously polite to Mrs. Hardy, but he greeted John
Hardy with much warmth and thanks. He was pleased with the yacht and
its many clever contrivances for saving space and arriving at comfort,
and at dinner was, for him, merry. He was delighted to see his
daughter with such a fresh and healthy look, after the cruise to
Christiania. Axel, usually a quiet and retiring lad, talked
incessantly; he had so much to relate of all that passed since leaving
Copenhagen, that at length the Pastor stopped him; but Hardy
intervened, "Let him run on, Herr Pastor; he is describing very well.
He will come to an end with what he has to say, shortly."
The Pastor had thus, from Axel's point of view, the whole history of
the cruise from beginning to end.
"And what do you say, Helga?" asked the Pastor.
"I never thought that life could be made so pleasant and so happy,
little father," replied Helga. "Mrs. Hardy is kinder than I can say."
"And Hardy was not?" said the Pastor, smiling.
"He is like his mother, little father; their natures are the same,"
replied Helga. "But he is a man, and men are never so good as women."
John Hardy laughed, and, as the conversation was in Danish, told his
mother what Helga had said.
"It is her simple naturalness that makes her say that, John," said
Mrs. Hardy. "She sees in me what she thinks a perfect woman, although
I am an ordinary Englishwoman; while she does not understand the
rougher nature men possess. Her thorough truth in thought and feeling
is her greatest charm."
Axel, however, put his oar in. "Why, father how can Helga say Herr
Hardy is not as good as Fru Hardy? He gave her a toilet box with
costly things in it."
"Yes, little father, it is true," said Helga; "but it was too costly a
present, and I did not like to accept it."
When dinner was over, Mrs. Hardy told her son to go on deck, and take
Axel with him. She then asked Helga to show her father the
dressing-case John Hardy had given her. The Pastor started when he
read the initials, "H. H." His quick apprehension realized the
position.
"Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "our children leave us as we grow
older; and is there any better wish for them than that they should
have a happy future?"
Mrs. Hardy held out her hand, and Pastor Lindal grasped it. He
understood her, and, with the ceremonious politeness habitual to him,
raised her hand to his lips.
"I think," said Mrs. Hardy, "they can be married on the first of
August. There is no reason to delay the happiness of their young life.
They can remain near you at Rosendal for a month, and come to England
for the winter, and return to you in May."
Helga was present, and heard all Mrs. Hardy had said. She put one hand
on her father's shoulder.
"Father," she said in Danish, "I will wait your wish and time."
"Mrs. Hardy is right, Helga," said her father, "I shall miss you, but
it will be a joy to me to lose you to Hardy. He is the one man I like,
and I hope he is the one man you love."
"I can never forget how we wronged him, when Rasmussen was injured and
died, and how noble he has always been!" said his daughter. "I have
been unkind and bad to him, and I now know pained him with what I
said. Little father, what you say I should do that will I do."
"Mrs. Hardy," said the Pastor, "my daughter assents to what you
propose, and I assent. You can order the matter as you will."
"I will promise you. Pastor Lindal," said Mrs. Hardy, "that all the
time she can she shall be in Denmark, and that I will be to her as her
own mother." Mrs. Hardy held out her hand to the Pastor, and the
compact then made ever after was adhered to.
Mrs. Hardy rose, and kissed Helga on her flaxen hair. "Will you tell
John, or I?" she asked.
"I cannot," replied Helga, earnestly.
"Then, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy, "we will go on deck, and I
should like a walk about Aarhus, if you will take me, and John can
take his wife that is to be."
When Mrs. Hardy came on deck, she said to her son, "The first of
August, John; it is so settled."
John Hardy lifted his mother from the deck, and positively kissed her
in the sight of his own men and a numerous crowd of curious Danes, who
had collected to see the yacht, and f Helga had not jumped ashore, it
was not at all improbable but that she might have shared the same
fate.
The trust and confidence the mother and son had in each other was a
comfort to the Pastor. It was the best guarantee for Helga's future.
"It is late," said the Pastor; "but I know the clerk at the Domkirke
(cathedral), and you can possibly see it."
The advantage of seeing the Domkirke with the Pastor was obvious to
Mrs. Hardy, and they were much interested in the details he gave of
the old vestments preserved in the Domkirke and the ancient folding
pictures at the altar, the date of which is 1479, but the pictures are
Italian and older.
"The old church tradition," said the Pastor, "is that the patron
saint, St. Clement, after suffering martyrdom, came ashore after
floating about the sea for eleven hundred years, bound to a ship's
anchor, which circumstance is delineated in more than one place in the
Domkirke. One of the stories of the Domkirke is recorded on a stone,"
continued the Pastor. "It is the figure of a woman with a hole in her
left breast. She was shot by a rejected lover, as she went to the
Domkirke to attend the church service of the times. The stone must
have been once in an horizontal position, as it is worn as if it had
been placed at the entrance of the Domkirke, as is believed to be the
case, and much trodden on."
"Are there more stories connected with the Domkirke?" asked
Mrs. Hardy.
"Yes, many," replied the Pastor. "There is the story of the monks
being killed by bricks falling on them from the arched roof, when
playing cards behind the altar. There is also the story of a large
hunting horn, which is said to be now preserved in one of our museums,
which horn was used at the evening service before Good Friday, in
catholic times. It was blown through a hole in the roof of the
Domkirke, and the words shouted as loud as possible, 'Evig forbandet
vaere, Judas' (For ever may Judas be accursed). There is also the
monument of Laurids Ebbesen who had been unfaithful to the king, who,
when he visited the Domkirke, cut the nose off the monumental figure
with his sword. The ship which is hung up in the Domkirke, is a model
which Peter the Great of Russia had made in France, and it was sent by
a French vessel from Toulon, which was wrecked at the Scaw, or, as we
call it, Skagen. The cargo of the ship was sold by auction. A seaman
of Aarhus bought the model, which is that of a ship of war with
seventy-four cannon, and gave it to the Domkirke, at Whitsuntide,
1720."
"Thank you very much, Herr Pastor," said Mrs. Hardy.
It must, however, be recorded that notwithstanding the interest John
Hardy had in such lore as the Pastor possessed in such rich abundance,
he was very much interested in another direction. At length, after
much absorbing contemplation, he said, "I never saw such blue as there
is in your eyes, Helga!"
The next day they returned to Rosendal, and Pastor Lindal to his
parsonage with Helga. He had been pleased with his berth on board the
yacht, and the comfortable opportunity the deck-house afforded for
holding a tobacco-parliament, which Mrs. Hardy bore with much
patience.
As the yacht was at Aarhus, Mrs. Hardy wished to make a tour amongst
the Danish islands before sending it to Esbjerg.
"I think, John," she said, "that to-morrow we will invite Pastor
Lindal and Helga to dinner, and we will talk over the arrangements for
your wedding. I should not offer to give her a wedding outfit, as I
think she would not like it. I should give her a good watch and chain,
as a wedding present, and lockets to the two Miss Jensens. It is clear
that the quieter the wedding is the more likely to meet the Pastor's
wishes and his daughter's."
"I think," said John, "that you are right, but I should wish to let
Helga know that I would bear any expense they wished. I should be so
glad if you would say so to her, mother. When we were at Christiania,
I wanted her to let me get her gloves or anything else she might wish
for, and she said 'You need not try to buy my goodwill, John; you
possess it' but she used a Danish word which 'goodwill' does not
translate."
"I had better ascertain their wishes, John," said his mother, "and say
we only wish to further them; and this once settled, you must come
with me on board the yacht, so that your mother may have her own boy
with her for a while. It will be better for you, as here you would be
restless; and as to your plans for teaching Helga to ride, you can do
so after you are married and are staying here."
John caressed his mother and assented.
Helga had filled the porcelain pipe after dinner, and Mrs. Hardy and
Pastor Lindal sat in a garden seat in the grounds at Rosendal, the day
following the decision of Mrs. Hardy's views for her son's wedding.
"We should wish to obey any wishes you may have, Herr Pastor, as to
the wedding," said Mrs. Hardy, after a general conversation with him.
"John will remain at Rosendal for a month, and then go to England for
the winter, and come to you again in May."
The Pastor took several long pulls at his pipe and created a cloud of
smoke. At last he said--
"I have not thought of it, Mrs. Hardy." And it was plain he had not.
"I will, then, say what I think," said she. "The wedding should be at
your church; and will you marry them?"
"Certainly; it is my intention," he replied.
"The wedding to be as quiet as possible," continued Mrs. Hardy, "and
proprietor Jensen's daughters to be bridesmaids; and John has an old
college friend who will come here to be his best man, and will return
with me to England in the yacht, from Esbjerg."
Mrs. Hardy's practical common sense impressed the Pastor; he assented
sadly.
"There is nothing to mourn over or regret, Herr Pastor, and you will
feel the constant joy of knowing that she is happy with the man of her
choice, and that as long as I live I will watch over her as my own;
also the pleasure of looking forward to her stay in Denmark every
summer will occupy and interest you."
The Pastor smoked in silence, but his heart was sad.
It was fortunate that John and Helga appeared, the latter laden with
blooms gleaned in the valley of roses. Her face was bright with
happiness.
"Mrs. Hardy," she said, "John has persisted in picking rose after
rose, holding them up to my cheek and telling me that I am the fairest
rose, and that I am going to be the rose of Rosendal, and has teased
me dreadfully."
"I think John is right to say so, and to say so to you," said
Mrs. Hardy, smiling kindly at her.
The Pastor felt what Mrs. Hardy had once said, that we should love
with our children's love, and the sadness left his face. He began to
share his daughter's love for Hardy.
Mrs. Hardy rose from her seat, and drew Helga away, and John had to be
content to follow her with his eyes only.
"Your father, Helga, last year, went for a tour with John; can he do
the same now? On Monday, I am going with John in the yacht for a
cruise amongst the Danish islands," said Mrs. Hardy, "do you think he
would like to go with us? It would allow of his being better
acquainted with us, and would distract his thoughts from dwelling on
your leaving him."
"Nothing could be better or kinder, Mrs. Hardy," replied Helga. "I
will write for the priest who generally does my father's duty in his
absence, at once."
"Stay," said Mrs. Hardy, "if your father leaves with us, it will
enable you to get ready for your wedding in his absence; it will be
better so. And here is a little packet. It will meet any expense; it
is not from John, it is from me;" and Mrs. Hardy kissed her
affectionately and was gone.