And then
when he heard her talk, so affected and stupid, it almost drove him out
of the room, and he had to reflect: No, you can't stand living with this
woman; every word she said would shame you. But when he was away from
Elsie again he saw the handsome farm, heard the money clink, imagined
himself looked up to, and he felt as if Elsie were not so bad after all;
so he would gradually persuade himself that perhaps she was cleverer
than she seemed, and, if she loved a man and he talked sensibly to her,
something might yet be done with her, and with a proper man she might
yet turn out a very sensible woman.
All this merely went on in Uli's head; but murder will out. The trip had
made Uli and Elsie more familiar; they used a different tone in speaking
to each other, Elsie regarded him with the peculiar glance of a certain
understanding. Uli, to be sure, tried to avoid her eyes, especially when
they were in sight of Freneli; for just as Elsie's riches allured him
more strongly every day, so Freneli seemed to him ever handier and
prettier. The best thing, he often thought, would be to have Freneli
stay with them and manage the household. But Elsie ran after Uli more
than ever, and when on a Sunday afternoon she was alone with him for an
instant in the living-room, she would not rest until they got to
kissing. She would have given anything to take another drive with him;
but she did not know where to go, and when they went to market her
father and mother went along.
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