Page:Karl Gjellerup - Minna, A novel - 1913.djvu/134

 to the garden of the first hotel that we could see the black coats and the many-coloured hats of the ladies moving under the foliage.

Alone in this strange spot we seemed to be a newly-married couple on their honeymoon, and I blessed the happy incident which had forced us to stay overnight.

"I was in reality also pleased at first," said Minna, "but soon afterwards I felt anxious, for in a way I had it on my conscience. I ought not to have been so positive. I myself had only a few marks in my pocket. If you had not had any more, my recklessness would have brought us into a nice dilemma. I did feel relieved when I saw you talking to Hertz and understood that you did not need to borrow anything from him. I was already quite alarmed.… Oh, the money, Harald! Perhaps it was a reminder how one always has to think of it when planning out anything."

We soon lost ourselves in plans for the future and calculations as to how little, with the help of economy, would be enough; apparently a very prosaic subject, but one that for a young couple (just as poor as loving) in reality possesses a greater attraction than even the most elevated romance. Notwithstanding our enthusiasm, I doubt whether the gold that the moon shed over the darkness of the river appeared to us more poetical than that with which our household needs were to be paid in due time. And I must admit that the one was just as unreal and fantastic as the other.