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Her only
daughter's husband went down in the same storm,--and he but three months
wedded,--and the girl,--Britta's mother,--pined and pined, and even when
her child was born took no sort of comfort in it. She died four years
after Britta's birth--her death was hastened, so I have heard, through
old Lovisa's harsh treatment,--anyhow the little lass she left behind
her had no very easy time of it all alone with her grandmother,--eh
Britta?"
Britta looked up and shook her head emphatically.
"Then," went on Gueldmar, "when my girl came back the last time from
France, Britta chanced to see her, and, strangely enough,"--here he
winked shrewdly--"took a fancy to her face,--odd, wasn't it? However,
nothing would suit her but that she must be Thelma's handmaiden, and
here she is. Now you know her history,--she would be happy enough if her
grandmother would let her alone; but the silly old woman thinks the girl
is under a spell, and that Thelma is the witch that works it;"--and the
old farmer laughed.


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