To think that she, who scarcely owned the very clothes on her back, should have the audacity to drive in a carriage and pair before the very noses of those whom her husband had swindled! The general feeling towards her had hitherto been favourable, and several people could not help feeling a mischievous delight at the idea of seeing the haughty Mrs.Worse live on a monthly allowance.

But now all were as hard as stone.

Mrs.Worse herself did not seem to be so nervous as she was the day before, and when she entered Consul Carman's office, with Pitter Nilken's papers under her arm, her step was as firm and confident as a man's.
It was now several years since Worse had left the firm, but some ill-feeling had long remained on both sides, and the deceased and Mr.
Garman had never got on well together.

It was thus no light matter for the widow to betake herself to Consul Garman; but Mr.Samuelsen had assured her that it was quite out of the question to think of keeping the business going without a guarantee from Garman and Worse.
When the Consul saw Mrs.Worse come into the room, he imagined that she was bringing a subscription-list to raise the means for educating her son, or something of that sort; and, as he offered her a chair on the opposite side of the table, he turned over in his mind how much he should subscribe.

But when Mrs.Worse began to give an explanation of her affairs, according to the calculations of Pitter Nilken, the Consul's manner changed, and he got up, walked round the table, and seated himself near her.