"What nonsense!" said the prudent Fru Jensen. "One horse is as good as another for you."
"Well, well, we'll see," growled the proprietor, but pleased, nevertheless, to see his daughter, like himself, fond of horses.
At dinner the conversation turned on Rosendal, which the Jensens had heard Hardy had purchased.
"It is a pretty place," said the proprietor, "but the farm is not much. But why did you buy it? It cannot be as a speculation, as the price is excessive."
"He intends to marry Helga Lindal and live there so that she will not be too far from her father, to whom she is so much attached," said Mathilde Jensen, laughing. "I can explain it all for him."
"Thank you, for disposing of my affairs so nicely," said Hardy; "you have saved me a good deal of explanation."
"Yes, but Pastor Lindal's daughter is going to marry the Kapellan (curate) he once had, a Kapellan Holm. She refused him, but her father wishes it, as Holm is a good man," said Fru Jensen.
"In Denmark, you must know," said the proprietor, "that it is the custom for a Pastor's daughter always to marry the Kapellan."
Hardy understood now the secret of Frøken Helga Lindal's manner. She was attached to this Kapellan Holm.
"But what are you going to do with Rosendal?" asked Herr Jensen. "It is a matter of interest to us; it is not far, and we should like such a neighbour as Herr Hardy."
"The first thing I intend to do is to improve the grounds and repair the house, but I do not contemplate making much alteration."
"I should so like to see Rosendal!" said Mathilde Jensen; and her younger sister, Marie Jensen, expressed the same wish.
"Why, you have seen it again and again," said their mother. "You want Herr Hardy to take you."
"So we do, little mother," said both the girls, "and we want him to let us ride his horses."
"Snak!" said their father. The Danish word "snak" has its peculiar expressive force, its meaning in English being that nonsense is being talked.
"Garth shall bring over both horses to-morrow," said Hardy, "and I will ride over; and I dare say Herr Jensen will accompany us, and lend my man a horse, as we should want him at Rosendal. If you assent, I will send a message to the bailiff, as you might like a little refreshment there."