H3
often that he was not telling the complete truth,
both in the office and at home, and it was always
because it was to his advantage, sometimes merely
because it was easier when the full truth involved
a lot of explanation. Then he would be angry, and
he spoke of it with such self-reproach that she had to
comfort him, telling him that, after all, he hadn't
committed a sin. It certainly relieved him, but
nonetheless he shook his head.
She gave him permission to accompany her to
her parents ; in the low front-parlour they sat at
the round table with the china lamp on it, and on
the window-sill stood a vase of yellow tulips. Her
father, who looked extremely old, was bent and had
a bald head ; he rubbed his hands ; her mother was
short like Wijntje and wore a cap with strings.
* Well, well,5 said her father, when he had emptied
his cup, * so you want to keep company.5 He talked
it over with his wife, and they decided that they
must find out first what Werendonk thought about
it, for after all their daughter was in service, and the
Werendonks were in a better position. No more
was said about it, and henceforward he came with
her twice a week. And Werendonk, who heard of
it, waited to see if it was going to be serious.
But there was happiness in the Forest all through
a long spring and a long summer. He always waited
for her under the beech-tree, where they had taken
shelter that first time in the rain, the same tree where