felt, now that Addie spoke to Marietje—Adolphine's Marietje—but did not go to the boys in the conservatory, that there was no harmony among them all and that they only met for the sake of Mamma, of Grandmamma. Poor Mamma! And yet she did not seem to notice it, was glad that the children and grandchildren came to her Sundays, to her "family-group."
Adolphine and Cateau sat talking in a corner; and Constance caught what they said:
"So Ber-tha is not . . . keep-ing on the house?"
"I should think not, indeed! They have nothing but debts."
"Is it their bro-ther-in-law who is see-ing to things and ad-min-istering the es-tate?"
"Yes, the commissary in Overijssel."[1]
"So they are not well off?"
"No, they haven't a farthing."
"Yes, as I al-ways used to say to Ka-rel, they always lived on much too large a scale."
"They squandered all they had."
"Well, that's not very pleas-ant for the children!"
"No. And there's Emilie, who wants a divorce. But don't mention that to Mamma: she doesn't know about it."
- ↑ The "Queen's Commissary" of a Dutch province has no counterpart in England except, perhaps, the lord lieutenant of a county. His functions, however, correspond more nearly with those of a French prefect.
