Part 10 (1/2)

”Yes. There he sits!” said the bailiff's wife, pointing at Hardy.

”How do you know I am the owner of Rosendal?” asked Hardy.

”Because the Prokuratr Steindal has written my man to say so,” said the bailiff's wife, ”and we have expected it all along.”

”If that be the case, Herr Pastor, you might have allowed me to catch a pike for lunch,” said Hardy; ”for the boys did not.”

”But have you bought Rosendal, Herr Hardy?” asked Frken Helga.

”I did so when in Copenhagen,” said Hardy. ”Is there any reason why I should not?”

”But why have you not said a word to us?” asked Pastor Lindal.

”Because it was so uncertain, and because I wished, as a surprise to you, to say that any enjoyment of Rosendal stands at your disposition and your family's,” replied Hardy.

They all looked at Hardy, but there was no doubt of the sincerity of his meaning.

”And may we come here and catch the pike?” asked Karl, with some anxiety.

”Yes, if you can, every fin of them,” replied Hardy; ”and we will, if the Pastor will now allow me, catch some this afternoon. I dare say Rasmussen's widow would like as many as we can catch. We will set a lot of lines and leave them, and roam about the place and visit them later, and the chances are, if there be pike, we shall catch a few.”

They wandered through the grounds and over the house and buildings with renewed interest.

”Do you understand the management of such a property, Hardy?” inquired Pastor Lindal, who, since the Rasmussen incident, rarely addressed him otherwise than by his name simply.

”I understand farming and the management of landed property in England,” replied Hardy; ”and it does not appear to me so very difficult to manage so small a place as Rosendal, with common sense and the a.s.sistance of so good a cla.s.s of people as are already on the estate. I shall not, for instance, begin to cut down the beech trees, or drain the lake, although in an economical sense both would pay to do. The lake could be drained to a good meadow; draining at the same time the meadows adjoining, while the beech trees could be sold, and the land they occupy turned into tillage. The house is a poor residence and out of repair, so are the farm-buildings; but the place has its peculiar charm, which I should not interrupt.”

Pastor Lindal regarded the practical self-possessed Englishman with surprise.

Hardy observed a look of displeasure in Helga's face at the thought of so pretty a situation being turned into a practical farm, so he said--

”I have not possession yet, and shall not have until after I leave Denmark this summer, and I could do nothing now; but my intention is to consult a professional English landscape gardener, with the view of increasing the attraction of Rosendal. He would do nothing that would appear inconsistent with the natural beauty of the place.”

”But he will cut it up and make all sorts of changes!” said Helga, in a disappointed tone.

”Yes,” said Hardy; ”and I see you think that it would not be the same old Rosendal to you again; but you have not seen how pretty the surroundings of our English homes are made by these means, and the exercise of judicious taste.”

”But it would not be the same Rosendal to me,” said Helga, unconsciously uttering the very thought Hardy had read in her handsome face.

”Possibly not,” replied Hardy; ”but your first exclamation would be that you could not have believed Rosendal could have been made so beautiful. A natural gem must be polished to exhibit its full beauty.”

”That may be; but the thought of seeing Rosendal changed, Hardy, is what strikes us,” said the Pastor.

”Well, Herr Pastor, there is one thing I will do,” said Hardy, ”and that is, before I do anything the plans shall be submitted to your and Frken Helga's judgment.”

”Which, I fear, we shall not understand,” said the Pastor.

”Yes, you will, because you will have the plan of the estate, as it now exists, before you as well as the plan of the proposed alterations; but, as far as I myself can see, no striking change would be desirable, or would be suggested.”

”But why have you bought Rosendal, Herr Hardy?” asked Helga, looking full at him. She had all a woman's curiosity, and it was inexplicable to her what motive Hardy could have had for his purchase.