"She is asleep now, and that will do her good." "It is a long time since we saw each other--nearly eighteen years," said Fru Beck, and her eyes dwelt upon Elizabeth as if to find what traces time had left upon her.

"But you have kept strong, I see--stronger than I have." "It was that morning I left for Holland," said Elizabeth, seeming to recall it with a certain pleasure.
"I have often thought of that time," whispered Fru Beck, more to herself almost than to the person she was talking to.

Her lip trembled slightly, and Elizabeth read an expression of mute sorrow in her face.

She was on the point of telling Elizabeth that she knew the reason of her going; but after debating for a moment within herself whether she should or not, finally let it pass.
"Ah! if we could only see into the future, Elizabeth!" she exclaimed with a sigh, and looked sadly at her, as if she thought she had given expression to a feeling that must be common to them both.
"It is better as it is, Fru Beck.

Many things happen in life that would not be so easy to bear if we were cast down beforehand." "Yes; but one could guard one's self," whispered Fru Beck, with a certain bitterness and hardness in her voice.
Elizabeth made no reply, and there was a pause, which seemed to Fru Beck to have broken the thread of the conversation.