a valley so beautiful in the tranquillity of evening! Below are green
groves which fringe mirror-clear lakes, fields of standing corn bend in
silken undulations round gray mountains, and white buildings glance amid
the trees. Round about, pillars of smoke are shooting up vertically from
the wood-covered hills to the serene evening sky. This seems to indicate
the presence of volcanoes, but in point of fact it is merely the
peaceful labor of the husbandmen burning the vegetation, in order to
fertilize the soil. At all events, it is an excellent thing, and I am
delighted, bend forward, and am just thinking about a happy family in
nature,--Paradise, and Adam and Eve,--when suddenly Bear puts his great
paws around me, and presses me so that I am near giving up the ghost,
while, kissing me, he entreats me to "be comfortable here." I was a
little provoked; but when I perceived the heartfelt intention of the
embrace, I could not but be satisfied.

In this valley, then, was my permanent home: here my new family was
living; here lay Rosenvik; here I was to live with my Bear. We descended
the hill, and the carriage rolled rapidly along the level way. Bear told
me the names of every estate, both in the neighborhood and at a
distance. I listened as if I were dreaming, but was roused from my
reverie when he said with a certain stress, "_Here_ is the residence of
_ma chère mère_," and the carriage drove into a courtyard, and stopped
before a large and fine stone house.

"What, are we going to alight here?" "Yes, my love." This was by no
means an agreeable surprise to me. I would gladly have first driven to
my own home, there to prepare myself a little for meeting my husband's
stepmother, of whom I was a little afraid, from the accounts I had heard
of that lady, and the respect Bear entertained for her. This visit
appeared entirely _mal àpropos_ to me, but Bear has his own ideas, and I