"Thank you, Herr Jensen," said Hardy, "but I return to England shortly. I will, however, come over, with your permission, and fish your river, which is a little tributary to the Gudenaa, and I hear has some good trout in it. We have not liked to ask your leave, because you might have other friends for whom you would wish to reserve the fishing."
"If I had," said the proprietor, "I would give it you; nothing would give me greater pleasure than to return your kindness to me. You gave up your own wishes about the racing only to oblige me; you did not wish to ride or risk your horse, but you did it to oblige me."
"Thank you very much," said Hardy. "May I take Pastor Lindal's two sons, Karl and Axel, with me to fish? They will not depopulate the stream."
"You may take anybody," said Herr Jensen, warmly.
Frøken Helga heard this conversation, and it showed her how differently Hardy had acted from what she had suggested to him in the morning before the races. Herr Jensen's unqualified praise had let her see how good Hardy had been, and how considerate for others, and she had accused him of being a coward and only caring for himself.
When they came to proprietor Jensen's Herregaard, Hardy jumped out of the carriage, and assisted Fru Jensen and her daughters out, but to Frøken Helga Lindal he only extended his arm, so that she might rest her hand on it on her descending from the carriage. She would have spoken, but Hardy was gone.
The dinner at proprietor Jensen's was a very lively affair. Early in the dinner he proposed the Englishman's health, and Hardy responded briefly; and then came many other toasts, and the ultimate conclusion was there was nothing like horse-racing, and as the evening wore on, so did the fogginess of the subject. Hardy had sent Garth to his stables with Buffalo after the race, and told him to fetch them at Herr Jensen's Herregaard at an early hour with the carriage, and Hardy drove himself, talking to Garth, who sat beside him. Karl and Axel had preferred to stay to see the last festivities of the races and to walk home, consequently Frøken Helga sat by herself in the carriage, and Hardy, after seeing her safely in and well cared for, did not address a word to her. They drove to the parsonage, and Hardy drove to the stables with Garth, to see Buffalo after his extra work that day, and Hardy walked back.