"I'll bear those words in mind," said Kaisa. "And when I see what Mamselle Lovisa's bridal-crown is bound with, then I'll know how it was with mine."
"You can rest easy as to that," the housekeeper assured her.
The two then went into the kitchen, and Kaisa, looking quite calm now, put out her hand in farewell.
"I may as well be going," she said. "Anyhow, I don't suppose I could see Mamselle Lovisa to-day to speak to."
With that she was off. The housekeeper went back to her work, and, in the rush and excitement, forgot about the woman. It was not till a day or two afterward that she told Mamselle Lovisa what Kaisa Nilsdotter had said and what she herself had replied.
Mamselle Lovisa went white as a sheet.
"Oh, Maja!" she cried, "how could you say that! It would have been better to tell her that I put a few little sprays of whortleberry green in her crown."
"I had to ease her mind to get her to go," the housekeeper explained.
"And so you said my crown would be of myrtle as surely as hers was. Now you'll see, Maja, there will be no bridal-crown for me!"
"Oh, you'll be married right enough, Mamselle Lovisa. Pastor Milén is not the man to jilt you."
"Who knows? Something else might come up to prevent it."
Mamselle Lovisa worried over this a few days, and
