d married Karel after
Constance' marriage to De Staffelaer and this was only the second time
that she had seen her sister-in-law--and had it on her lips to say,
"Mevrouw," instead. "Oh, Con-stance, _what a lot_ of clothes you have!"

"Do you think so? Things get so spoilt in one's trunks."

"_I_ haven't as many dress-es as that, _have_ I, Ka-rel? But _what_ I
have is re-ally good. But yours are good, _too_, Con-stance. I like
re-ally good clothes.... Only, such a lot of _lace_ would fid-get me....
Bertha dresses well, too.... But Adolph-ine.... Oh, what a _sight_ she
al-ways looks!"

"Does she?" asked Constance. "But she has to consider the cost of
things, hasn't she?"

"I have only two dress-es every year; but those are re-ally good."

"And will Van der Welcke be here soon?" asked Karel.

"On Tuesday. Then we shall look round for a house. I do think it so
delightful to be back at the Hague, among all of you. I see Mamma every
day. Yesterday, I was at Bertha's: a busy household, isn't it? I came
plump into the middle of all sorts of rehearsals, for the wedding. And I
was at Gerrit's: Adeline is a dear; and oh, how I laughed, how I
laughed! What a lot of children! I can't tell them one from the other
yet. But how charming and delightful, that fair-haired little woman,
with that fair-haired little troop; and she's expecting another baby
this summer! And Dorine is nice too.... Oh, you don't know, you don't
know how glad I am to see you all! We are a big family and life at the
Hague is so busy.... Look at Bertha.... And Gerrit and Adeline too are
busy with their little troop.... But I do hope to take my place among
you all again. It is so long since I saw you all! Ah, I didn't want to
force things! Mamma did come to see me twice in Brussels. But my
brothers and sisters ... No, it wasn't kind of you! But I daresay it had
to be! Things were as they were! You couldn't very well respect me, you
had to disown me, it couldn't be helped!... I suffered tortures, all
those years! I never had any one to talk to, except him, my little son!
It wasn't right of Mamma, was it, Addie, to be always talking to you?
But I couldn't speak out to Henri, to Van der Welcke. Oh, we are very
good friends, quite good friends!... I can't tell you how, all of a
sudden, I longed for the Hague, for my family, for the people I used to
know, for all of you, for everything! I always wrote to Mamma regularly;
and Mamma gave me all the news, sent me the