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very bones/ he said, c and it can't be talked out of
existence.' Frans looked at him in bewilderment.
He asked Jansjewhat she thought could be the matter
with his brother that he had grown so gloomy;
the shop was thriving as well as they could wish, and
there were no worries. * It was just the same with
your father/ she said ; ; at the end of his life he
could think of nothing else but sin. Who's to know
what may be gnawing at his heart ? People change
without your knowing why, and the reason for it
lies deep. Just look at Stien, who sings louder than
ever now, especially when she's cleaning her copper,
she can't do enough of it, and there isn't a house
anywhere where everything shines as it does here.'
And it was true, but Frans hadn't noticed that it
shone more than usual. Now he saw it, and he
thought that the brilliance of the measures, the
weights, the candle-sticks, gave the house a touch of
life, especially in the dark back-parlour.
It was Jansje and he, too, who first noticed that
there was a change in Floris. He kept his eyes
turned away and lowered more than he had done
all the summer ; he seemed to be nervous, too, as
he used to be. At meal-times, when Werendonk
spoke about the wickedness of mankind, he looked at
him with eyes that were full of sorrow. He stared
out at the yard and forgot his plate. c Hm,* said
Uncle Gerbrand, * you seem to have weighty matters
in your head that you despise your daily bread.