ine, Marietje and
three noisy boys, all younger than their sisters; next came Gerrit and
his wife Adeline: their children were still in the nursery; next, Karel
and Cateau, still digesting their good dinner and their good wine; Ernst
entered, gloomy, timid, queer and shy, as usual; Paul followed: he was
the youngest son, thirty-five, good-looking, fair-haired and excessively
well-dressed; last came the Van Naghels, Bertha and her husband, the
colonial secretary, with their children: the three elder girls, Louise,
Emilie, with Van Raven, her future husband, and Marianne; young Karel;
and another Marietje: the two undergraduates were away, this time, at
Leiden. There was a general humming and buzzing: the uncles, aunts,
nephews and nieces exchanged greetings; many of them had not seen one
another all the week; but they made it a rule to meet at Mamma's
Sundays. And this evening there was great excitement among them all,
though they restrained it for Mamma's sake: a mutual whispering and
asking of opinions, because Constance was returning to the Hague, to her
family, after twenty years' absence.

Adolphine overwhelmed her eldest sister, Bertha van Naghel van Voorde,
with a torrent of whispered words:

"It's Mamma's wish," said Bertha, laconically, blinking her eyes.

"But what do you think? What does Van Naghel think? You surely can't
think it pleasant...."

"Constance is our sister...."

"Our sister, our sister! If my sister misconducts herself...."

"Adolphine, Constance has been married to Van der Welcke for fourteen
years; and there comes a time when one overlooks...."

"But what are you going to do? Will you have her at your house?"

"Yes, of course."

Adolphine had it at the tip of her jealous tongue to say, "And I suppose
you'll ask her to your big dinners," but she restrained herself.

The younger nephews and nieces were also busily talking:

"Isn't she here yet?"

"No, she's coming later."

"Is she old?"

"She's between Uncle Gerrit and Aunt Adolphine...."

"How nervous Grandmamma is!"

"Oh, she doesn't strike me so!..."

"Why is she so late?"

"To make a triumphal entry...."

"Oh, triumphal!" said Floortje, Adolphine's daughter. "That would be the
finishing touch!"

"There she is!"

"Yes, I hear some one on the stairs."

"Granny's gone outside to meet her."

"And Aunt Dorine, too."

"I'm awfully curious to...."

"Yes, but we mustn't stare like that," said Marianne van Naghel to t