"
Mrs. Hanka had to intervene. Couldn't they stop quarrelling even on a
pleasure trip? They ought to be ducked if they couldn't behave!
And Irgens was silent at once; he did not even mumble maliciously between
his teeth. Mrs. Hanka grew thoughtful. How her poet and hero had changed
in a few brief weeks! What had really happened? How dull and lustreless
his dark eyes had become! Even his moustache seemed to be drooping; he had
lost his fresh immaculateness; he was not nearly as alluring as before.
But then she reminded herself of his disappointments, of that miserable
subsidy, and of his book, his beautiful lyric creation which they were
conspiring to kill by their studied silence. She leaned toward Aagot and
said:
"It is sad to observe how bitter Irgens has grown; have you noticed it? I
hope he will get over it soon." And Mrs. Hanka, who wanted to save him
from making too unfavourable an impression, added in the goodness of her
heart what she had heard Irgens himself say so often: It was not so
strange, after all; bitterness of that character could only arouse
respect. Here he had toiled and worked for years, had given freely of his
treasures, and the country, the government, had refused to offer him a
helping hand.
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