And Elsie blubbered more and more vehemently, until she was all
out of breath, and her mother had to undo her bodice hastily, thinking
in all seriousness that Elsie was going to die. Then the good mother
held her peace again; for she did not want to scold Elsie to death. She
merely complained at times to Freneli that she didn't know what to do.
If she scolded, Elsie was capable of doing something foolish; but if she
let things go and something really did happen, then she would get the
blame for everything, and people would ask why hadn't she done something
in time. Of Uli she couldn't complain; he was acting very sensibly, and
she even thought the whole thing was disagreeable to him. And she would
be sorry to send him off packing without notice, before they had more
grounds of complaint; for, if she did, Joggeli would be the first to
accuse her of dismissing through groundless anxiety the best servant
they had ever had. But that was the way he always did--when she wanted
him to speak he would keep still, and when she wanted him to keep still
he would always meddle. She, Freneli, should keep her eyes open, and if
she saw anything out of the way she was to tell her. But from Freneli
the old woman got little comfort; she acted as if the whole affair were
none of her business. Elsie could not refrain from talking to Freneli
about Uli--how fine and handsome he was, and how she wouldn't take her
oath that she wouldn't marry him yet; if her people angered her by
refusing to do what she wanted, they'd just see what she'd do.
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