Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/240

240THE HALLIG.

should cut off every hope of possessing her, should pain
him as little as possible, and as is usual in such cases,
her reply wounded him most severely.
  "How many thanks do I owe you, Godber ! Without
you, I should never again have seen my native place,
for which I long so much. Never" — and she took his
hand and pressed it warmly — "never can I forget how
you threw yourself into the rolling sea for me. Never
will my gratitude to you cease, never can I fail earn-
estly to desire your happiness. And have we not
amused ourselves pleasantly with each other on this
island, and shall we not always think of it as a period
of happy, childish relaxation, such as we can Beldom
enjoy in this world ?"
  Godber colored with shame and indignation. So she
could call amusement, what had cost him and poor Ma-
ria the happiness of their lives. He pressed his lips
together and stood for some time like one doubtful
whether it were best to bridle his anger or let it break
forth.
  Idalia became more and more disturbed, the longer
his silence lasted. She tried to summon all her pride
and turn away from him, but the consciousness that she
had done wrong, mingled with a certain fear of him
whom she had so deeply wounded, triumphed, and she
said with a caressing tone,
  "What a holiday it will be for me, if you should
visit us some day, in Hamburg. Then we will talk
over old times, and you shall see how faithfully my
memory has preserved the smallest circumstance con-
nected with our own life together on this island."
  Godber had heard nothing of these last words, but