The Ice People 3

by The Step Daughter (Legend of the Ice People #3)

Liv burst into a flood of tears and Sol took her sister into her strong arms and hugged her, sensing that the awful sobbing expressed Liv’s feeling of despair that had been built up during many long months of loneliness.

  “I’ve tried to be loyal. I don’t want to speak about my husband behind his back but ...”

  “For goodness sake, Liv. Tell me everything!” said Sol. “Even I can see that some things need to be told!”

  “He wants to form my character, Sol, so that I fit in with his wish of a docile, stupid slave of a wife. Everything that I was taught at home is criticised and ...”

  “What!” exclaimed a furious Sol. “No parents have been better than Silje and Tengel ...”

  “I know, that’s how I feel too, but Berenius despises them.”

  “Have you been asked to refer to him as ‘Berenius’? It’s absolutely ridiculous!”

  “Oh, thank God, so you think the way I do about it? I thought it was me who was about to lose my mind. And his Mum ...”

  Liv told Sol the whole story. The words simply poured out from her lips. Sol was speechless and deeply shocked. Not being allowed visits from her family, not being allowed to travel home to Linden Avenue and Graastensholm, not being allowed to draw and paint, not being credited with even the slightest bit of intelligence - this was horrific! Inhuman!

  Broken blossoms, thought Sol sadly. In the course of one week, she, the inflexible, who didn’t fit into a normal, decent lifestyle, had to take care of two young girls who sought her help. As if she were the stronger! It was absurd.

  “As for the marri...” Liv began but then broke off. “Oh, no. Sorry.”

  “Come on now, Liv. You must tell me!”

  “No, please don’t ask me to do so, Sol. I don’t know whether I can speak about such intimate things behind his back.”

  “As you wish, Liv. I don’t want to force you.”

  “Sol, I’m so unhappy with myself. So ... broken! Am I really that hopeless at everything? I try and try, but things always go wrong.”

  “You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s his fault, not yours!”

  These words were the best words Sol could have said to her sister, Liv. The words tumbled out of Liv’s mouth, about her great anxiety, self-doubt and loneliness which she’d felt over the past months.

  Sol was deeply shaken.

  And when she happened to notice the scars on Liv’s arm and was told they came from whippings with a horsewhip, Sol was absolutely furious. She forgot her good manners and burst into a tirade of oaths that would make a sailor blush. She spat them out.

  Liv, aghast, sat holding her breath.

  When she was finished, Sol pulled her up from the sofa.

  “Come,” she said. “Dag’s ship will be arriving soon. We’ll go down to the harbour and pick him up.”

  “Dag? Is Dag coming here?”

  “Yes, we’re supposed to meet him here in Oslo.”

  “Dag ...” murmured Liv, “will Miss Trolle be with him?”

  “Miss Trolle doesn’t mean anything to him.”

  “But I thought ...”

  “Oh, it was nothing but gossip. Dag has had no time for anything else but his studies. Maybe just a little flirtation once or twice, like everybody else.”

  “But I’m not allowed to go out. I haven’t asked for permission.”

  “Asked for permission? There’s nothing like that in our family. You go where you want to, when you want to ... and you’re only accountable to yourself.”

  For one fleeting moment, Sol wondered if she would be able to hold herself to account for some of the things she’d done – but that wasn’t important now.

  “Come on now, Liv ... and I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

  ***

  One hour later, Sol and Liv saw the ship moor alongside the quay. By that time they’d also managed to talk about everything other than Liv’s misfortunes, and she’d actually smiled for the first time in months.

  Even so, she jumped at the slightest sound and looked around to see whether she was being watched. She didn’t tell Sol, but Liv couldn’t help thinking what her husband and mother-in-law would say when they found out that she’d left the house without telling them.

  “Just blame me,” said Sol. “I can take it.”

  While they were watching the few passengers disembark, Sol studied her sister though the corner of her eye. So Liv was the one the old woman at Ansgar’s Klyfta had in mind. A member of your closest family is suffering, Sol was told.

  Sol’s eyelids closed a fraction and her brain began to work ...

  Then she saw a tall, elegant-looking man waving at them.

  “There he is,” shouted Liv. “Oh, Sol, what a wonderful day – imagine being allowed to meet you both at the same time! If only I could ...” she broke off, her hand flying to her mouth.

  “Come home with us?” said Sol, finishing the sentence for her. “Is that what you’d like?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. I believe that loyalty is of the greatest importance in marriage, and I’m terribly ashamed that I’ve broken Berenius’ trust in me today.”

  “Thank goodness you spat it all out. By the way, loyalty works both ways, doesn’t it, Liv?”

  “But he’s so kind to me and has given me so much. He’s never been unfaithful even though he tells me that it’s his right. I shouldn’t ... Dag! It’s lovely to see you again.”

  Dag embraced both his sisters, first one and then the other.

  “So you managed to arrive before me, Sol. Well done! A lot of people send their greetings to you. They never had the chance to say goodbye. They’ve missed you, Sol. Mostly ... hmm ... young men. Hello Liv, my little one. It’s such a long time since I’ve seen you, isn’t it! But you’ve really lost weight. You look so thin and pale. Doesn’t your husband feed you properly?” asked Dag with a grin.

  Sol touched Dag’s arm in an urgent, serious gesture.

  “We have a serious situation on our hands, Dag,” she said quietly. “We must talk!”

  “Sol,” exclaimed Liv in despair. “You mustn’t!”

  “You bet I must! That wretch has tormented our sister. She’s unwell.”

  “No, Sol, please don’t.”

  “What’s this all about?” asked Dag, deeply concerned. “Tell me everything.”

  As they walked away from the harbour, Dag listened to the whole story delivered by a furious Sol. When she’d finished, he looked at both in shocked dismay.

  “Liv? The finest, and the best of us all, isn’t she, Sol?” asked Dag. “I know her better than most, and there’s no finer person. Who would dare to treat our sister like that?”

  Neither he nor Sol were true blood relatives of Liv, but when one of them had problems imposed on them from outside, they would close ranks and stand more firmly united than many ordinary families.

  “It’s not that bad, Dag,” said Liv. Maybe I exaggerated.”

  “Exaggerated?” exclaimed Sol. “Just look at her arm, Dag. And as for her mother-in-law!”

  “We have to travel home,” decided Dag bitterly. “Tengel and Silje and Charlotte must get to hear of this ... and Liv, you must come with us.”

  “No, no,” she begged desperately. “I can’t.”

  “Yes,” insisted Dag. “I will arrange transport at once. Are you ready to leave, Sol?”

  “No, I must fetch my ... Oh, gosh! I’ve forgotten all about Meta again!”

  “Meta?” repeated the other two simultaneously.

  “Well, she’s only got herself to blame. It’s as if she was born to be forgotten,” said Sol.

  Then she told them all about Meta.

  When she had finished, Dag shook his head in disbelief. “You’re really a mystery, Sol. I’ve seen you with a heart made of stone do the most awful things to Tengel’s patients – amputating legs with no regard for their screams; open stinking wounds; picking up pieces of rotting corpses – all without as much as batting an eyelid! Then some unfortunate young girl appear
s and you act like a heroine, full of compassion. Of course, the poor thing must come with us to Linden Avenue or Graastensholm now.”

  “Yes, and Liv’s right. She shouldn’t be travelling home with us now. This would provoke her husband too much, and we don’t want her beaten anymore.”

  “But I intend to have a word or two with this man,” said Dag sternly.

  “No,” said Sol. “That’s the worst thing you could do. Now let me sort this out! Liv, you hurry home quickly before anyone returns – it’s not far. You, Dag, must find us transport to Linden Avenue while I fetch Meta. It’s a bit of a distance to the inn where she’s waiting for me.”

  That last piece of information was a lie – the inn was just round the corner, but Sol had other plans.

  “Then I’ll meet you at the town gates and bring Meta with me. Now Liv, you must carry on being the good-natured wife until we’ve spoken to our parents about all this. Be gentle and subdued like a lamb! See you soon!”

  Sol hurried away and soon disappeared from sight round a corner. Liv and Dag continued walking slowly along the street together, almost dragging their feet to make the walk take as much time as possible. Liv completely forgot that she should hurry.

  “There isn’t much Mum and Dad can do,” she said quietly.

  “Maybe not, but he ought to receive a good telling off.”

  Liv sighed. “I’d only suffer for it.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

  Soon they were strolling hand in hand as they’d always done. Trying to sound cheerful, Dag told her of the life he’d been leading in Copenhagen – but in his heart he felt nothing but dull, helpless despair. A husband always had the law on his side. Was young Liv, the little sister who’d followed Dag like an admiring shadow throughout their childhood and adolescence, now to be made to suffer for the rest of her life? Dag had an inexplicable feeling that he was in some way to blame for her fate.

  They walked on in silence for a few minutes before Dag asked: “Where is your husband’s office?”

  Liv stopped. “No, you mustn’t go there, Dag. Please don’t!”

  “I’m simply dying to tell him a few home truths – or to be quite honest, beat him black and blue!”

  “Dag, please don’t! Please don’t do anything!”

  He stopped and took her face in his hands. “No, I shan’t,” he promised. “Let’s see what Sol comes up with. She’s usually quite inventive.”

  For a long time he stood looking deeply into Liv’s eyes – as they said goodbye. Neither could ignore the look of sadness in the other’s eyes. Dag promised her that she’d receive news from home and then they reluctantly went their separate ways.

  Liv stood watching him until he was out of sight. As she made her way back to the fine house, she felt invigorated from seeing her siblings but also terribly frightened at the punishment she’d be subject to if her husband ever found out that she’d left the house.

  ***

  Meanwhile Sol hadn’t wasted her time at all. She quickly hired the most elegant coach in the whole of Oslo and ordered the driver to take her to Mr. Samuelsen the draper’s house. Sitting in the coach, she adjusted her dress so that she looked as nice and elegant as possible. This wasn’t very difficult as her best dress was one that Countess Strahlenhelm had passed on to her and the latest fashion compared to the standard in Oslo. As she travelled, she rummaged through her occult possessions and put something in her pocket.

  When they arrived at the draper’s house, she asked the driver to announce her as Countess Thott from Copenhagen. She knew there were so many Thotts that it would be impossible to keep track of them all. The driver climbed the steps to the front door and in no time the ‘countess’ had been allowed in. Sol made a dramatic entrance, sweeping her skirts about her, looking very elegant in her smart dress and a hat that reflected Copenhagen’s current fashion.

  The draper’s wife, Mrs. Samuelsen, curtseyed and scraped, and scraped and curtseyed for all she was worth, welcoming her aristocratic guest into her frugal merchant’s house. She was desperately trying to think what had brought about this visit.

  Sol glided into the drawing room. Her posture straight and tall and with a patronising smile, she gazed in turn at each of the ladies sitting before her. In her best Danish accent – not perfect, but unlikely to be noticed – she asked her hostess to introduce each of her nice guests by name.

  Mrs. Samuelsen was delighted to do so and Sol took special note as to which of them was Mrs. Berenius, Liv’s mother-in-law. They had never met as Sol had not been present at Liv’s wedding. On seeing her, Sol’s first thought was “what a battle-axe!” So this was the person that took such pleasure in bullying one of the most lovable girls in Norway. This mountain of flesh of a bitter, old woman with a whining voice, slumped in front of her. Oh, how poor Liv must have suffered! Still smiling, however, Sol turned her attention smoothly back towards her hostess once more.

  “Ah yes, Mrs. Samuelsen. I’ve come here straight from the Royal Palace.” The sound of the ladies all drawing breath at once was overwhelming.

  “While I was there, I spoke with my dear friend, Count Lowenbrander, and he asked me to call on you.” Sol could say this in the certain knowledge that there was no count by that name. “He told me that in his younger days he’d fallen very much in love with you, but that circumstances within the family meant that he couldn’t propose to you. Nevertheless, he’s never forgotten you, Mrs. Samuelsen, and he asked me to tell you! Now ladies, isn’t that truly romantic?”

  Sol sent them all a radiant smile.

  Of course, the draper’s wife was quite confused.

  “Who could that be? Count Lowenbrander? I don’t seem to recall ...?”

  “No, of course not. He couldn’t use his aristocratic name then as you no doubt understand. And he didn’t have the courage to let you know of his feelings for you. But I’m sure you know who I mean, isn’t that so?”

  Mrs. Samuelsen forced herself to chuckle, which could mean anything. Sol could see how hard she was trying to remember. The hostess was certainly delighted. The eyes of her guests were wide with envy.

  Then Sol sat down next to Liv’s mother-in-law. Her hands moved swiftly over the table while she chatted and drew their attention to a picture hanging high on the wall.

  The hostess, Mrs. Samuelsen, offered Sol a refreshment which she declined because her coach was waiting and she was short on time.

  Soon afterwards she made a gracious exit, accompanied by the good wishes of the many admiring ladies.

  Sol and Meta reached the city gates a little late, where Dag was waiting for them beside an ordinary horse-drawn wagon. Half an hour later, Liv’s mother-in-law passed away following a very convincing heart attack. Nobody thought of linking this with the wine she’d drunk some time earlier – and nobody considered that it could have anything to do with the unexpected visit of the elegant lady from Copenhagen. Furthermore, as this happened while she was visiting others, Liv couldn’t be accused of having anything to do with the death of her mother-in-law. This was how Sol wanted it, and Sol usually got what she wanted.

  ***

  First of all, Dag went straight to Graastensholm. After all, this was his proper home and where his real Mum lived.

  Charlotte was naturally thrilled to see her handsome son once again. She spent a lot of time wiping away the tears of joy from her eyes.

  “We were expecting you to come in a few days’ time. We were thinking of going to Oslo and meeting you at the boat. Well, how did things go?” she asked when she’d calmed down and they sat on the sofa.

  “How did what go?”

  “Your exams, of course!”

  Exams? He’d forgotten all about them.

  “Very well, thank you. Now that I’ve passed my law degree with distinction, I’ll be able to take my pick of official positions. I don’t want to boast, but I did get the best results of my year.”

  “I knew you would,” beamed Charlotte, who couldn’t take he
r eyes off him. “I knew you’d do extremely well. I’m not a fool myself, you know, so you must take after me!” she chuckled.

  “I know that, Mum. After all, you’re the one that taught us all, and you must take credit for that. But my years at university were tough. Students aren’t valued very highly, especially when you belong to one of the lower faculties. We were required to attend funerals and form a sort of guard of honour. The bigger the congregation the more distinguished was the corpse. All this took a lot of our time when we were supposed to be poring over our books. But it all turned out well in the end.”

  Then he suddenly fell silent. He was deep in thought, only answering distractedly with one-syllable words while Charlotte told him all that had happened at Graastensholm.

  Then, in mid-flow, she stopped suddenly and leaned forward.

  “What’s wrong, Dag?” she asked. “You look so worried.”

  He sat up straight and sighed. “Yes, Mum. I’m afraid that in acting with the best of intentions you may have caused a terrible tragedy.”

  Charlotte turned red in the face. “Really? What do you mean?”

  “Did you mention to the family at Linden Avenue of Miss Trolle? I remember mentioning her to you in passing.”

  “Yes, I did,” answered Charlotte. “What happened with her?”

  “Nothing except that I thought she was pretty and that I was proud that she wanted to spend time with me. But it’s my fault for I should never have mentioned her at all.”

  “Fault? I don’t understand.”

  “All this happened while Berenius showed a great interest in Liv, didn’t it? He’d been introduced to her here at Graastensholm.”

  Charlotte thought for a moment. “Yes, I believe that’s so. Why?”

  Dag got up from the sofa and began to pace the floor. “The next thing I heard was that Liv planned to marry him. That she’d already accepted his proposal of marriage.”

  Charlotte was becoming increasingly confused. “Yes, it was a truly fine match for our young Liv.”

  At that moment she saw the immense distress on Dag’s face, which made her feel uneasy.