MARIE GRUBBE had never had money of her own, and the possession of a large sum gave her a sense of powers and possibilities without limit. Indeed, it seemed to her that a veritable magic wand had been placed in her hands, and she longed like a child to wave it round and round and bring all the treasures of the earth to her feet.

Her most immediate wish was to be far away from the towers of Copenhagen and the meadows of Tjele, from Erik Grubbe and Aunt Rigitze. She waved the wand once, and lo! she was carried by wheel and keel, over water and way, from the land of Sj?land to Lübeck town. Her whole retinue consisted of the maid Lucie, whom she had persuaded her aunt to let her have, and a trader’s coachman from Aarhus, for the real outfitting for her trip was to be done at Lübeck.

It was Sti H?gh who had put into her head the idea of travelling, and in doing so, he had hinted that he might himself leave the country to seek his fortune abroad, and had offered his services as courier. Summoned by a letter from Copenhagen, he arrived in Lübeck a fortnight after Marie, and at once began to make himself useful by attending to the preparations necessary for so long a journey.

In her secret heart, Marie had hoped to be a benefactor to poor Sti H?gh. She meant to use some of her wealth to lighten his expenses on the trip and in France, until it should appear whether some other fountain would well in his behalf. But when poor Sti H?gh came, he surprised her by being splendidly attired, excellently mounted, attended by two magnificent grooms, and altogether looking as if his purse by no means needed to be swelled by her gold. - 186 - More astonishing yet was the change in his state of mind. He seemed lively, even merry. In the past, he had always looked as if he were marching with stately step in his own funeral procession, but now he trod the floor with the air of a man who owned half the world and had the other half coming to him. In the old days, there had always been something of the plucked fowl about him, but now he seemed like an eagle, with spreading plumage and sharp eyes hinting of still sharper claws.

Marie at first thought the change was due to his relief in casting behind him past worries and his hope of winning a future worth while, but when he had been with her several days, and had not opened his lips to one of the love-sick, dispirited words she knew so well, she began to believe he had conquered his passion and now, in the sense of proudly setting his heel on the head of the dragon love, felt free and strong and master of his own fate. She grew quite curious to know whether she had guessed aright, and thought, with a slight feeling of pique, that the more she saw of Sti H?gh, the less she knew him.

This impression was confirmed by a talk she had with Lucie. The two were walking in the large hall which formed a part of every Lübeck house, serving as entry and living-room, as playground for the children and the scene of the chief household labors, besides being used sometimes for dining-room and storehouse. This particular hall was intended chiefly for warm weather, and was furnished only with a long white-scoured deal table, some heavy wooden chairs, and an old cupboard. At the farther end, some boards had been put up for shelves, and there cabbages lay in long rows over red mounds of carrots and bristling bunches of horse-radish. The outer door was wide open and showed - 187 - the wet, glistening street, where the rain splashed in shining rivulets.

Marie Grubbe and Lucie were both dressed to go out, the former in a fur-bordered cloak of broadcloth, the latter in a cape of gray russet. They were pacing the red brick floor with quick, firm little steps as though trying to keep their feet warm while waiting for the rain to stop.

“Pray, d’you think it’s a safe travelling companion you’ve got?” asked Lucie.

“Sti H?gh? Safe enough, I suppose. Why not?”

“Faith, I hope he won’t lose himself on the way, that’s all.”

“Lose himself?”

“Ay, among the German maidens—or the Dutch, for the matter of that. You know ’tis said of him his heart is made of such fiery stuff, it bursts into flame at the least flutter of a petticoat.”

“Who’s taken you to fools’ market with such fables?”

“Merciful! Did you never hear that? Your own brother-in-law? Who’d have thought that could be news to you! Why, I’d as lief have thought to tell you the week had seven days.”

“Come, come, what ails you to-day? You run on as if you’d had Spanish wine for breakfast.”

“One of us has, that’s plain. Pray have you never heard tell of Ermegaard Lynow?”

“Never.”

“Then ask Sti H?gh if he should chance to know her. And name to him Jydte Krag and Christence Rud and Edele Hansdaughter and Lene Poppings if you like. He might happen to know some fables, as you call it, about them all.”

- 188 -

Marie stopped and looked long and fixedly through the open door at the rain. “Perhaps you know,” she said, as she resumed her walk, “perhaps you know some of these fables, so that you can tell them.”

“Belike I do.”

“Concerning Ermegaard Lynow?”

“Concerning her in particular.”

“Well, let’s have it.”

“Why, it had to do with one of the H?ghs—Sti, I think his name was—tall, red-haired, pale—”

“Thanks, but all that I know already.”

“And do you know about the poison, too?”

“Nay, nothing.”

“Nor the letter?”

“What letter?”

“Faugh, ’tis such an ugly story!”

“Out with it!”

“Why, this H?gh was a very good friend,—this happened before he was married,—and he was the very best of friends with Ermegaard Lynow. She had the longest hair of any lady—she could well-nigh walk on it, and she was red and white and pretty as a doll, but he was harsh and barbarous to her, they said, as if she’d been an unruly staghound and not the gentle creature she was, and the more inhumanly he used her, the more she loved him. He might have beaten her black and blue—and belike he did—she would have kissed him for it. To think that one person can be so bewitched by another, it’s horrible! But then he got tired of her and never even looked at her, for he was in love with some one else, and Mistress Ermegaard wept and came nigh breaking her heart and dying of grief, but still she lived, though forsooth it wasn’t much of a life. - 189 - At last she couldn’t bear it any longer, and when she saw Sti H?gh riding past, so they said, she ran out after him, and followed alongside of his horse for a mile, and he never so much as drew rein nor listened to her crying and pleading, but rode on all the faster and left her. That was too much for her, and so she took deadly poison and wrote Sti H?gh that she did it for him, and she would never stand in his way, all that she asked was that he would come and see her before she died.”

“And then?”

“Why, God knows if it’s true what people say, for if it is, he’s the wickedest body and soul hell is waiting for. They say he wrote back that his love would have been the best physic for her, but as he had none to give her, he’d heard that milk and white onions were likewise good, and he’d advise her to take some. That’s what he said. Now, what do you think of that? Cou............