Fru Boyesen speechlessly waved a hand; she resettled the glasses on her nose and continued her perusal of the letter, growing red in the face as she proceeded. Ingeborg sat watching her with round anxious eyes exercising all her self-control in silencing the queries that crowded to her lips. The thin foreign paper crackled and creased as the pages were turned, and Ingeborg followed the close fine lines of writing, though too far away to distinguish a word. Crushing the letter in her hand Fru Boyesen rose to her feet, upsetting her cup of coffee; Ingeborg sprang forward, but the expression of her aunt's face was such as to drive from her mind the minor importance of the slight mishap, and the creamy liquid streamed unheeded to the floor. "What is it, Aunt? Oh, do tell me!" "Your sister," said Fru Boyesen, "has disgraced herself. She has married a foreigner that nobody ever heard of, without her family's permission--without mine. My consent! She never even asked it, she knew well enough what I would say! Oh, I knew there was something in the wind when that fool, Else Bjork, came back without her! You knew, Ingeborg, I wanted to go down to her, and you all persuaded me not to. God knows, if I had, I might have stopped this folly--but now listen to what the shameless idiot says!" She smoothed out the crumpled sheets and glancing through them read out a paragraph here and there at random. "'Dear Auntie: "'I hope you are not going to be very angry when you hear my news. I know you won't approve, but perhaps by and by--I am sorry that I could not consult you, but it has all been so sudden. It would be difficult for me to explain to you so that you would understand, how it was I came to take this step'--I should think so indeed--'and knowing how little use it would be to try and make you, who are so far away, understand it all I thought it better not to attempt it--Fru Bjork knew nothing of this, and indeed there was nothing definite to know at the time she left, so you must not hold her in any way responsible. I know you will think me very foolish, but perhaps time will prove even to you--Signor Valentini is a young man of whom great things are predicted; he is very kind to me and we have many interests in common--'" The reading was interrupted by the opening of the dining-room door and the appearance of Astrid rosy and smiling on the threshold. She glanced in amazement from Fru Boyesen's flushed face to Ingeborg's strained white one, noting the overturned coffee-cup and the letter in Fru Boyesen's trembling fingers. "My dear Fru Boyesen!" she exclaimed, stepping forward, "what is the matter? Have you bad news?" Then recognising the handwriting of the letter--"Has Ragna--?" "Come here, Astrid," said Fru Boyesen, "tell me what you know of this disgraceful business." "Disgraceful business!" echoed Astrid, in consternation. "Yes, this marriage--" "Marriage!" repeated Astrid almost dazed, "what marriage?"