Flatboats floated on the pools, the houses were
roofed in, windmills flapped their sails, and Paul, who had ordered
and built everything, came every day to see how the workmen were
getting on. In the autumn he took Malvine for the first time to
Harburg, and leaving the carriage at the office brought her by boat
to the border of the Friesenmoor, to show her the picture all at
once. The men stood on each side of the new house with their shovels
and pickaxes, and greeted the young wife with such a hearty cheer
that her eyes filled with tears. The broad flat surface of the marsh
was now arranged in regular lines where the water was being drawn
off, all so well superintended and orderly, that Malvine could not
help thinking of a chessboard. The windmill moved its long restless
arms, as if to welcome her as mistress here; the one-storied
dwelling house, raised on stone steps, lay there hospitably built on
a raised terrace, with its number of large well-lighted rooms
opening a vista of peace and happiness to Malvine, and she thought
it all so delightful that she would have liked to send for her
furniture from Hamburg and stay there. Paul, however, reflected what
danger there might be to her in her condition to stay through the
winter in a house not yet dry, and so she gave in to his wishes.
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