The master received her in the hall.

He had till now never seen her but from a distance, yet had he heard
enough about her to form a clear image of her. With her it was the same.
She saw this man, to whom she owed such bitter grudge, for the first time
here, under his own roof, and it was right strange to behold the two
eyeing each other so keenly; he with a slight bow, almost timidly, and
cap in hand; she unabashed, but with an expression as though she well
knew that nothing pleasant lay before her.

The master spoke first, bidding her welcome to his dwelling, in accents
of truth but with all due respect, and never speaking of it, as is the
wont of his class, as "humble" or "poor," and as he was about to help her
out of the litter I could see her face brighten, and this assured me that
she would let bygones be bygones, as they say, and declare to Master
Pernhart in plain words to what intent and purpose she had knocked at his
door. By the time she was in the best chamber, the last sour curl had
disappeared from her mouth; and indeed all was snug and seemly therein;
Dame Giovanna being well-skilled in giving things a neat appearance, well
pleasing to the eye.

Pernhart meanwhile had said but little, and his face was still dark,
almost solemn of aspect. The master's mother again, to whom Gertrude had
been all-in-all, and who had done what she could to speed her marriage,
could read the other woman's heart, and understood how great had been the
sacrifice she had taken upon herself. There was no trace of the old
grudge in her speech, and it sounded not ill when, as she put my aunt's
cushions straight, she said she could not envy her, forasmuch as she the
elder was thus permitted to be of service to the younger. When Pernhart
presently quitted the chamber, perchance to don more seemly attire the