gs; but the tears stood in her eyes, and she kept a
convulsive hold on the curtains, behind which she was concealing
herself. For the conquest she had made, which had also on her side been
at first only mere vanity, had ended by becoming a serious matter. She
really loved him, and could now see clearly exactly how the situation
lay.

Christmas came and passed. The ordinary festivities of the season went
on as usual at the Garmans'; but this year they were less merry than
usual. There were several members of the family who each had to bear his
own separate sorrow; and little Christian Frederick, the only hope of
the family, was lying at home, slowly recovering from the measles. Uncle
Richard never seemed to gain quite his usual Christmas spirits, for
Madeleine's appearance caused him considerable anxiety. Since he had no
longer been able to keep her under his eye by means of the big
telescope, she had quite got beyond his ken amongst all the others with
whom she constantly mixed, and whenever they happened by chance to find
themselves alone together, Madeleine did nothing but cry, and that was
more than her father could bear.

Morten was dreading the settling of the year's accounts with his father.
That part of the business which was carried on in the town, and which
was regarded as a kind of offshoot from Garman and Worse, had to be most
carefully examined on account of a large amount of private business and
debts, which the son had incurred during the past year. His housekeeping
account, which his father always wished to see, had also to be worked
out carefully by itself. But the worst of it all was, that when they
were sitting together in the Consul's office, Morten could never get rid
of the feeling, that however he might twist and wriggle, the clear blue
eyes still seemed to pierce through his every manoeuvre; and the part he
had to play was very painful to him. As soon as they had reckoned up the
result of the year, the Consul put his finger on the gross receipts and
said, "These are far too small."

"Times have been very bad," answered Morten. "I feel sure that by next
year--"

"The times have not been so bad," interrupted the father, "but that a
house with the capital with which we have to work ought to have managed
to earn double. In my father's time we earned twice as much with half
our present capital."

"Yes; but times were quite different in those days, father."

"And people were quite different too,"