Thelma Part 79

"Death!" cried Ulrika. "Olaf Guldmar _dead_! Impossible! Only last night I saw him in the pride of his strength,--and thought I never had beheld so goodly a man. Lord, Lord! That he should be _dead_!"

In a few words Svensen related all that had happened, with the exception of the fire-burial in the Fjord.

But Ulrika immediately asked, "Is his body still in the house?"

Svensen looked at her darkly. "Hast thou never heard Ulrika," he said solemnly, "that the bodies of men who follow Olaf Guldmar's creed, disappear as soon as the life departs from them? It is a mystery--strange and terrible! But this is true--my master's sailing-ship has gone, and his body with it--and I know not where!"

Ulrika surveyed him steadily with a slow, incredulous smile. After a pause, she said--

"Fidelity in a servant is good, Valdemar Svensen! I know you well--I also know that a pagan shrinks from Christian burial. Enough said--I will ask no more--but if Olaf Guldmar's ship's has gone, and he with it,--I warn you, the village will wonder."

"I cannot help it," said Svensen with cold brevity. "I have spoken truth--he has gone! I saw him die--and then vanish. Believe it or not as you will, I care not!"

And he drove on in silence. Ulrika was silent too.

She had known Valdemar Svensen for many years--he was a man universally liked and respected at all the harbors and different fishing-stations of Norway, and his life was an open book to everybody, with the exception of one page, which was turned down and sealed,--this was the question of his religious belief. No one knew what form of faith he followed,--it was only when he went to live with the _bonde_, after Thelma's marriage,--that the nature of his creed was dimly suspected. But Ulrika had no dislike for him on this account,--her opinions had changed very much during the past few months. As devout a Lutheran as ever, she began to entertain a little more of the true spirit of Christianity--that spirit of gentle and patient tolerance which, full of forbearance towards all humanity, is willing to admit the possibility of a little good in everything, even in the blind tenets of a heathen creed. Part of this alteration in her was due to the grat.i.tude she secretly felt towards the Guldmar family, for having saved from destruction,--albeit unconscious of his parentage,--Sigurd, the child she had attempted to murder. The hideous malevolence of Lovisa Elsland's nature had shown her that there _may_ be bad Lutherans,--the invariable tenderness displayed by the Guldmars for her unrecognized, helpless and distraught son,--had proved to her that there _may_ be good heathens. Hearing thus suddenly of the _bonde's_ death, she was strangely affected--she could almost have wept. She felt perfectly convinced that Svensen had made away with his master's body by some mysterious rite connected with pagan belief,--she knew that Guldmar himself, according to rumor, had buried his own wife in some unknown spot, with strange and weird ceremonials, but she was inclined to be tolerant,--and glancing at Svensen's grave, pained face from time to time as she sat beside him in the sledge, she resolved to ask him no more questions on the subject, but to accept and support, if necessary, the theory he had so emphatically set forth,--namely, the mystical evanishment of the corpse by some supernatural agency.

As they neared their destination, she began to think of Thelma, the beautiful, proud girl whom she remembered best as standing on a little green-tufted hillock with a cl.u.s.ter of pansies in her hand, and Sigurd--Sigurd clinging fondly to her white skirts, with a wealth of pa.s.sionate devotion in his upturned, melancholy, blue eyes. Ulrika had seen her but once since then,--and that was on the occasion when, at the threat of Lovisa Elsland, and the command of the Reverend Mr.

Dyceworthy, she had given her Sir Philip Errington's card, with the false message written on it that had decoyed her for a time into the wily minister's power. She felt a thrill of shame as she remembered the part she had played in that cruel trick,--and reverting once more to the memory of Sigurd, whose tragic end at the Fall of Njedegorze she had learned through Valdemar, she resolved to make amends now that she had the chance, and to do her best for Thelma in her suffering and trouble.

"For who knows," mused Ulrika, "Whether it is not the Lord's hand that is extended towards me,--and that in the ministering to the wants of her whom I wronged, and whom my son so greatly loved, I may not thereby cancel the past sin, and work out my own redemption!"

And her dull eyes brightened with hope, and her heart warmed,--she began to feel almost humane and sympathetic,--and was so eager to commence her office of nurse and consoler to Thelma that she jumped out of the sledge almost before it had stopped at the farm gate. Disregarding Valdemar's a.s.sistance, she clambered st.u.r.dily over the drifted heaps of slippery snow that blocked the deserted pathways, and made for the house,--Valdemar following her as soon as he had safely fastened up the sledge, which was not his own, he having in emergency borrowed it from a neighbor. As they approached, a sound came floating to meet them--a sound which made them pause and look at each other in surprise and anxiety. Some one was singing,--a voice full and clear, though with a strange, uncertain quiver in it, rippled out in wild strains of minor melody on the snow-laden air. For one moment Ulrika listened doubtedly, and then without more delay ran hastily forward and entered the house.

Thelma was there,--sitting at the lattice window which she had thrown wide open to the icy blast,--she had taken off her cloak and hat, and her hair, unbound, fell about her in a great, glittering tangle of gold,--her hands were busy manipulating an imaginary spinning-wheel--her eyes were brilliant as jewels, but full of pain, terror, and pathos. She smiled a piteous smile as she became hazily conscious that there were others in the room--but she went on with her song--a mournful, Norwegian ditty,--till a sudden break in her voice caused her to put her hand to her throat and look up perplexedly.

"That song pleases you?" she asked softly, "I am very glad! Has Sigurd come home? He wanders so much, poor boy! Father, dear, you must tell him how wrong it is not to love Philip. Every one loves Philip--and I--I love him too, but he must never know that." She paused and sighed. "That is my secret,--the only one I have!" And she drooped her fair head forlornly.

Moved by intense pity, such as she had never felt in all her life before, Ulrika went up and tried to draw her gently from the window.

"Poor thing, poor thing!" she said kindly. "Come away with me, and lie down! You mustn't sit here,--let me shut the lattice,--it's quite late at night, and too cold for you, my dear."

"Too cold?" and Thelma eyed her wonderingly. "Why, it is summer-time, and the sun never sets! The roses are all about the walls--I gave one to Philip yesterday--a little pale rose with a crimson heart. He wore it, and seemed glad!"

She pa.s.sed her hand across her forehead with a troubled air, and watched Ulrika, who quietly closed the window against the darkness and desolation of the night. "Are you a friend?" she asked presently in anxious tones. "I know so many that say they are my friends--but I am afraid of them all--and I have left them. Do you know why?" and she laid her hand on Ulrika's rough arm. "Because they tell me my Philip does not love me any more. They are very cruel to say so, and I think it cannot be true. I want to tell my father what they say--because he will know--and if it is true, then I wish to die,--I could not live! Will you take me to my father?"

The plaintive, pleading gentleness of her voice and look brought more tears into Ulrika's eyes than had ever been forced there by her devotional exercises,--and the miserable Valdemar, already broken-hearted by his master's death, turned away and sobbingly cursed his G.o.ds for this new and undeserved affliction. As the Italian peasantry fall to abusing their saints in time of trouble, even so will the few remaining believers in Norse legendary lore, upbraid their fierce divinities with the most reckless hardihood when things go wrong.

There were times when Valdemar Svensen secretly quailed at the mere thought of the wrath of Odin,--there were others when he was ready to pluck the great G.o.d by the beard and beat him with the flat of his own drawn sword. This was his humor at the present moment, as he averted his gaze from the pitiful sight of his "King's" fair daughter all desolate and woe-begone, her lovely face pale with anguish,--her sweet wits wandering, and her whole demeanor that of one who is lost in some dark forest, and is weary unto death. She studied Ulrika's rough visage attentively, and presently noticed the tears on her cheeks.

"You are crying!" she said in a tone of grave surprise. "Why? It is foolish to cry even when the heart aches. I have found that,--no one in the world ever pities you! But perhaps you do not know the world,--ah!

it is very hard and cold;--all the people hide their feelings, and pretend to be what they are not. It is difficult to live so,--and I am tired!"

She rose from her chair, and stood up unsteadily, stretching out her little cold white hands to Ulrika, who folded them in her own strong coa.r.s.e palms. "Yes--I am very tired!" she went on dreamily. "There seems to be nothing that is true--all is false and unreal--I cannot understand! But you seem kind,"--here her swaying figure tottered, and Ulrika drew her more closely to herself--"I think I know you--you came with me in the train, did you not? Yes--and the little baby smiled and slept in my arms nearly all the way." A violent shuddering seized her, and a quiver of agony pa.s.sed over her face.

"Forgive me," she murmured, "I feel ill--very ill--and cold--but do not mind--I think--I am--dying!" She could scarcely articulate these last words--she sank forward, fainting, on Ulrika's breast, and that devout disciple of Luther, forgetting all her former dread of the "white witch of the Altenfjord"--only remembered that she held in her arms a helpless woman with all the sorrows and pangs of womanhood thick upon her,--and in this act of warm heart-expansion and timely tenderness, it may be that she cleansed her soiled soul in the sight of the G.o.d she worshipped, and won a look of pardon from the ever-watchful eyes of Christ.

As far as mundane matters were concerned, she showed herself a woman of prompt energy and decision. Laying Thelma gently down upon the very couch her dead father had so lately occupied, she sent the distracted Valdemar out to gather fresh pine-logs for the fire, and then busied herself in bringing down Thelma's own little bed from the upper floor, airing it with methodical care, and making it as warm and cosy as a bird's-nest. While she was engaged in these preparations, Thelma regained her consciousness, and began to toss and tumble and talk deliriously; but with it all she retained the innate gentleness and patience, and submitted to be undressed, though she began to sob pleadingly when Ulrika would have removed her husband's miniature from where it lay pressed against her bosom,--and taking it in her own hand she kissed and held it fast. One by one, the dainty articles of delicate apparel she wore were loosened and laid aside, Ulrika wondering at the embroidered linen and costly lace, the like of which was never seen in that part of Norway,--but wondering still more at the dazzling skin she thus unveiled, a skin as exquisitely soft and pure as the satiny cup of a Nile lily.

Poor Thelma sat resignedly watching her own attire taken from her, and allowing herself to be wrapped in a comfortable loose garment of white wadmel, as warm as eider-down, which Ulrika had found in a cupboard upstairs, and which, indeed, had once belonged to Thelma, she and Britta having made it together. She examined its texture now with some faint interest--then she asked plaintively--

"Are you going to bury me? You must put me to sleep with my mother--her name was Thelma, too. I think it is an unlucky name."

"Why, my dear?" asked Ulrika kindly, as she swept the rich tumbled hair from the girl's eyes, and began to braid it in one long loose plait, in order to give her greater ease.

Thelma sighed. "There is an old song that says--" She broke off. "Shall I sing it to you?" she asked with a wild look.

"No, no," said Ulrika. "Not now. By-and-by!" And she nodded her head encouragingly. "By-and-by! There'll be plenty of time for singing presently," and she laid her in bed, tucking her up warmly as though she were a very little child, and feeling strongly inclined to kiss her.

"Ah, but I should like to tell you, even if I must not sing--" and Thelma gazed up anxiously from her pillow--"only my head is so heavy, and full of strange noises--I do not know whether I can remember it."

"Don't try to remember it," and Ulrika stroked the soft cheek, with a curious yearning sensation of love tugging at her tough heartstrings.

"Try to sleep--that will be better for you!" And she took from the fire a warm, nourishing drink she had prepared, and gave it to her. She was surprised at the eagerness with which the poor girl seized it.

"Lord help us, I believe she is light-headed for want of food!" she thought.

Such indeed was the fact,--Thelma had been several days on her journey from Hull, and during that time had eaten so little that her strength had entirely given way. The provisions on board the Black Polly were extremely limited, and consisted of nothing but dried fish, hard bread, and weak tea, without milk or sugar,--and in her condition of health, her system had rebelled against this daily untempting bill of fare.

Ulrika's simple but sustaining beverage seemed more than delicious to her palate,--she drained it to the last drop, and, as she returned the cup, a feint color came back to her cheeks and lips.

"Thank you," she said feebly. "You are very good to me! And now I do quite know what I wished to say. It was long ago--there was a queen, named Thelma, and some one--a great warrior, loved her and found her fair. But presently he grew tired of her face--and raised an army against her, and took her throne by force, and crowned himself king of all her land. And the song says that Queen Thelma wandered on the mountains all alone till she died--it was a sad song--but I forget--the end."

And her voice trailed off into broken murmurs, her eyes closed, and she slept. Ulrika watched her musingly and tenderly--wondering what secret trouble weighed on the girl's mind. When Valdemar Svensen presently looked in, she made him a warning sign--and, hushing his footsteps, he went away again. She followed him out into the kitchen, where he had deposited his load of pine-wood, and began to talk to him in low tones.

He listened,--the expression of grief and fear deepened on his countenance as he heard.

"Will she die?" he asked anxiously.

"Let us hope not," returned Ulrika, "But there is no doubt she is very ill, and will be worse. What has brought her here, I wonder? Do you know?"

Valdemar shook his head.

"Where is her husband?" went on Ulrika. "He ought to be here. How could he have let her make such a journey at such a time! Why did he not come with her? There must be something wrong!"

Svensen looked, as he felt, completely perplexed and despairing. He could think of no reason for Thelma's unexpected appearance at the Altenfjord--he had forgotten all about the letter that had come from her to her father,--the letter which was still in the house, unopened.

"Well, well! It is very strange!" Ulrika sighed resignedly. "But it is the Lord's will--and we must do our best for her, that's all." And she began to enumerate a list of things she wanted from Bosekop for her patient's sustenance and comfort. "You must fetch all these," she said, "as soon as the day is fairly advanced." She glanced at the clock--it was just four in the morning. "And at the same time, you had better call at the doctor's house."

"He's away," interrupted Valdemar. "Gone to Christiania."

"Very well," said Ulrika composedly. "Then we must do without him.

Doctors are never much use, any way,--maybe the Lord will help me instead."

And she returned to Thelma, who still slept, though her face was now feverishly flushed and her breathing hurried and irregular.

The hours of the new day,--day, though seeming night, pa.s.sed on and it was verging towards ten o'clock when she woke, raving deliriously. Her father, Sigurd, Philip, the events of her life in, London, the fatigues of her journey, were all jumbled fantastically together in her brain--she talked and sang incessantly, and, like some wild bird suddenly caged, refused to be quieted. Ulrika was all alone with her,--Valdemar having gone to execute his commissions in Bosekop,--and she had enough to do to make her remain in bed. For she became suddenly possessed by a strong desire to go sailing on the Fjord--and occasionally it took all Ulrika's strength to hold and keep her from springing to the window, whose white frosted panes seemed to have some fatal attraction for her wandering eyes.

She spoke of things strange and new to her attendant's ears--frequently she p.r.o.nounced the names of Violet Vere and Lady Winsleigh with an accent of horror,--then she would talk of George Lorimer and Pierre Duprez,--and she would call for Britta often, sometimes endearingly--sometimes impatiently.

The picture of her home in Warwickshire seemed to haunt her,--she spoke of its great green trees, its roses, its smooth sloping lawns--then she would begin to smile and sing again in such a weak, pitiful fashion that Ulrika,--her stern nature utterly melted at the sight of such innocent helpless distraction and sorrow,--could do nothing but fold the suffering creature in her arms, and rock her to and fro soothingly on her breast, the tears running down her cheeks the while.

And after long hours of bewilderment and anguish, Errington's child, a boy, was born--dead. With a regretful heart, Ulrika laid out the tiny corpse,--the withered blossom of a promised new delight, a miniature form so fair and perfect that it seemed sheer cruelty on the part of nature to deny it breath and motion. Thelma's mind still wandered--she was hardly conscious of anything--and Ulrika was almost glad that this was so. Her anxiety was very great--she could not disguise from herself that Thelma's life was in danger,--and both she and Valdemar wrote to Sir Philip Errington, preparing him for the worst, and urging him to come at once,--little aware that the very night the lifeless child was born, was the same on which he had started from Hull for Christiansund, after his enforced waiting for the required steamer. There was nothing more to be done now, thought Ulrika piously, but to trust in the Lord and hope for the best. And Valdemar Svensen made with his own hands a tiny coffin for the body of the little dead boy who was to have brought such pride and satisfaction to his parents, and one day rowed it across the Fjord to that secret cave where Thelma's mother lay enshrined in stone. There he left it, feeling sure he had done well.