In a Weary World

Chapter VIII: The Trials of Matchmaking

It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together. -- Jane Austen, Emma

What could possibly go wrong? she'd thought. She could answer that question now. In great detail, too.

To start with, Rigmor was nowhere to be found. Solvej had no experience of matchmaking, but she knew that matchmaking required two people to meet and interact. It was hard to interact with anyone when you never met them.

Solvej considered the problem over and over again. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get past that obstacle. So, she could do nothing but wait until Rigmor deigned to make an appearance.

Days passed slowly. Time, which normally seemed to fly, slowed to a crawl. Solvej spent her days dreaming up possible ways to make Hjalmar meet and fall in love with the Princess. Then, at last, Rigmor reappeared, and all Solvej's plans were thrown for a loop.

~~~~

The first Hjalmar knew of Rigmor's return was when he walked into the shop one morning to find Merethe behind the counter.

"Good morning," he said politely.

"Good morning," she replied.

This exchange of courtesies over, they went about their jobs as they had done every other day of working together. Merethe seemed unaware of Hjalmar's presence, and Hjalmar noticed her only if she did something odd.

Hjalmar was in the middle of unpacking a selection of astronomy textbooks when Merethe did something very odd indeed. She rounded a bookshelf at a run, jumped over the box filled with textbooks, and dived behind another bookshelf before Hjalmar could do more than stare in astonishment.

"What on Earth?" he began, amazed.

"I'm not here!" Merethe hissed at him from behind the bookshelf.

Wondering if his coworker had gone mad, Hjalmar got up and looked around the main store for anything that could have caused such extraordinary behaviour. He saw nothing more unusual than Mr. Ovessen chatting with Eigil Nissen, a policeman who often stopped by to discuss the results of some football match or other. Hjalmar withdrew, greatly puzzled. Then it struck him.

Merethe ran away when a policeman was in the shop. And now that he thought of it, he couldn't remember ever seeing her in the shop at the same time as Mr. Nissen.

There was some mystery here. So he took a leaf out of Solvej's book, pretended there was no such word as "tact" in the dictionary, and confronted Merethe without a minute's delay.

"Why are you hiding from the police?"

"I'm not!" Merethe denied at once.

Her denial would have been more convincing if she weren't crouching behind a shelf and speaking in a whisper. Hjalmar raised an eyebrow and folded his arms, doing his best impression of his mother's "you're up to something and I won't go away until I know what" look.

Merethe seemed to realise he wouldn't let this drop. She continued unwillingly, "I'm hiding from anyone who might recognise me."

"Anyone who might recognise you," Hjalmar repeated flatly. "What did you do? Rob a bank?"

"None of your business!" Merethe snapped.

"If I'm going to be arrested on suspicion of associating with a criminal, then yes, it is my business!"

Merethe gave him a look that made him feel about three inches tall. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not a criminal and no one will be arrested."

"Then why are you afraid the police will recognise you?" Hjalmar demanded, feeling increasingly frustrated.