Henrik and Rosalie 
By M. Goldschmidt 
Translated from the Danish by Minna Wreschner 
The fate that rules in matters of love is often singular, and its ways 
are inscrutable, not only in vital things but also in those of less impor¬ 
tance, as this story will show. 
Henrik Falk, student of divinity, had taken his fiancee, Rosalie 
Hvidbjerg, to the theatre one evening to see Heiberg’s The Insepara¬ 
bles. The following morning, as he was seated in his cosy student quar¬ 
ters at Regensen, smoking his pipe, he received the following note: “I 
consider it best that our engagement be broken.—Rosalie.” 
Henrik Falk’s surprise upon reading this message can easily be 
understood; he jnit down his pipe, dressed quickly, and hastened to his 
fiancee s home. There he was told that Rosalie had gone away, but if 
he wished he could see her aunt. The aunt arrived but could give him 
no explanation, as she herself was in the dark about the whole affair. 
When Rosalie had returned from the theatre the previous night, she 
had been very quiet; but soon after she had shown signs of great 
inward agitation and had said that to her the unpoetic relations which 
existed between Malle and Ivlister (main characters in the play) 
seemed unbearable, even wrong, and that probably all or at least the 
greater part of engaged couples were like that, or else sooner or later 
would assume that indifferent attitude toward each other, in which case 
she preferred to remain single. Whereupon she had written scores of 
letters, no doubt all to him, Henrik Falk, had again torn them up, one 
after the other, but had finally sent one letter to the post office. She 
did not go to bed, but packed her belongings and left by the morning 
train. 
You know,” continued Rosalie’s aunt, “I had really no control 
over her plans. She was here only on a visit and if she wanted to go 
to the—to other relatives of hers, I had no means of preventing her.” 
Which relatives, which uncle and aunt—for Rosalie’s parents were 
dead—the lady would not tell; she said she had given her word of honor 
not to disclose the secret. 
They discussed the matter for some time, and in the course of the 
conversation Rosalie’s aunt asked Henrik if he was certain that he had 
not in any way offended the young girl, of which he assured her most 
emphatically. 
‘*Oh, well,” said the aunt, “it is a difficult problem to handle such 
a young girl, only seventeen years of age, besides being of independent 
means. You know, Mr. Falk, she was reallv too voung to become 
engaged. Xext time you must be more cautious.” 
