From France he wrote the most pressing letter to the Dean, begging
him to allow Helene to return home, so that they could be married
at once. Whatever the Dean had heard about his life in Christiania
had nothing to do with the feelings which he nourished for Helene.
She, and she alone, had the power to bind him; he would remain
hers for life.
The Dean did not answer him.
A month later he wrote again, acknowledging this time that he had
behaved foolishly. He had been merely thoughtless. He had been led
on by other things. The details were deceptive, but he swore that
this should be the end of it all. He would show that he deserved
to be trusted; nay, he HAD shown it ever since he left
Christiania. He begged the Dean to be magnanimous. This was
practically exile for him, for he could not return to Hellebergene
without Helene. Everything which he loved there had become
consecrated by her presence; every project which he had formed
they had planned together; in fact, his whole future--He fretted
and pined till he found it impossible to work as seriously as he
wished to do.
This time he received an answer--a brief one.
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