The Mandrake by Margit Sandemo

Author:Margit Sandemo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jentas A/S
Published: 2017-10-18T11:34:43+00:00

Alv had been unable to ride north to follow Dan, Ingrid and Ulvhedin as he had originally planned, because Berit had started coughing up blood and he did not want to leave her. They said nothing about it to Ingrid when she returned home because they did not want to worry her unnecessarily. Alv simply asked his daughter to help out a little more in the house and reduce the burden on her mother a little bit without giving her a specific explanation. That did not appeal to Ingrid, because housework was not something she particularly enjoyed. It seemed to be a characteristic feature among the women of the Ice People, this aversion to daily household chores. They were intensely creative women, and being creative often means doing a single thing just once and then stepping back and observing one’s accomplishment with pride. Housework, with a few exceptions, needs keeping up, and it bothered these women enormously to have to redo what they had just done. That went for all of them, from Silje to Sol, Cecilie and Villemo to Ingrid. They all had the same attitude. But Ingrid did not like to see her mother having to take to her bed from exhaustion, so out of sheer concern she did all the necessary chores in the house.

While she had been away a letter had arrived. From Thor Egil Frederick etc etc. In the letter he formally asked for Ingrid’s hand and wrote that he had now become a lieutenant, had been transferred to Kristiansand and would like to take his wife along with him. For that reason, he wondered whether it would be possible for Ingrid to come to Christiania on 4th August, when he would be there. He had not been granted permission to leave the capital but if she could make do with a simple, quick wedding at his cousin’s house in Christiania, they would be able to travel from there to Kristiansand.

“He certainly seems to be in a rush,” Ingrid muttered.

“It sounds sensible to me,” Alv said. “And once he has become a captain he plans to settle down here at Graastensholm and take over the upkeep of the farms, which will be wonderful, to be honest.”

“Well, then I will wait until he has become a captain,” Ingrid said quickly. “I don’t want to leave mother while she is so sick.”

Alv could not convince Ingrid. Both Alv and Berit knew just how close her daughter was to them and it touched them deeply, but at this particular time they would have liked her to marry well. They both sensed that their days were numbered and before that they wanted to be assured that their daughter was in good hands.

Ingrid had not been home for many days before it became clear to her that the remedy she had used had been too old after all. There were clear signs that the bewitching night was to have consequences in spite of everything. She flopped down on her bed.

“Damn it!” she whispered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.