‘I found a book about sex in Morten’s room,’ she said under her breath. ‘Hanne lent it to him. I think they fool around too much, the two of them.’

Henrik laughed and took a bite of bread.

‘You’re just jealous,’ he said. ‘If she seduces him, it’s only healthy. It’s an old tradition that the sons of the house go to bed with the maid.’

His eyes took on a sudden snake-like expression, as if he were evaluating how much he had wounded her. He hates me, she thought, dumbfounded.

‘He’s only a child,’ she mumbled unconvincingly.

‘He’s almost sixteen,’ he said flatly. ‘Mothers would avoid a lot of grief if they realized their children are becoming adults, even though they’re still in school.’

‘He might fall in love with her,’ she said, confused, going silent again, because it seemed as if the conversation was about something else.

Henrik just shrugged his shoulders, stood up, and pushed his chair under the table. She got up too and stepped toward him to follow him to the entry, like she used to do back when everything between them was fine.

Perplexed, he looked down at her feet.

‘Why are you wearing your dress shoes this morning?’ he asked.

Then he left without waiting for an answer and without saying goodbye.

She sank down in a chair and stared out the window. The gray November light penetrated deep inside her, lining her with stale hopelessness. Hanne came sashaying in with her affected gait and started putting cups on the tray.

‘Can I take Linda’s old clothes?’ she said unabashedly. ‘Like I said before, she’ll never be able to wear out her shoes. Your husband gives her too many. If I may say so, he’s a bit too infatuated with her –’

That’s as far as she got.

All Helene’s anxiety and despair collected into one powerful wave of anger. She saw red spots before her eyes as she slowly rose, and the girl automatically took a couple of steps back.

‘You – you,’ stammered Helene, ‘can pack up your own old rags and leave immediately. We have no use for you anymore.’

‘Good gracious.’

Hanne collected herself again immediately, and her narrow, closely set eyes were full of sinister triumph.

‘I would like to receive my pay for the entire month.’

Without answering, Helene stormed into her room, flung open her desk drawer, and pulled out her checkbook. There was a small amount left from her glory days. She filled out the check with a trembling hand.

‘There you go.’

She handed the check back over her shoulder to Hanne, who had followed her.

‘Now go pack and leave immediately.’

Humming a tune, the intolerable person strode down the hallway to her room, and Helene kicked off her shoes, stretched her sore toes, put her head down on her desk, and sobbed.