The Death of Society Author:Romer Wilson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III Hilde emerged from nowhere, like one of those supernatural beings who serve old magicians, and saying: 'Come this way, Mr Rane Smith,' led him ... more »up the stairs. The hall was now very dark, the stairs obscure and shadowy, but Hilde carried two candles, and behind the pillars the white table, sparkling with silver and glass, shone in a haze of candle-light. Smith ascended the stairs in a dream, and following Hilde through a door at the top found himself in a wide passage full of wooden cupboards and recessed doors. 'It is strange to you in a Norwegian house for the first time/ she said. She spoke English with a strong Norwegian accent. 'I will light the lamps,' she added, without waiting for him to answer, and handing him the candles, lit a long wax taper at them, which she carried in a silver holder like a large pencil-case, and with it illuminated four lamps that hung by chains from the rafters. 'I want the electric light,' she said, 'but father is romantic, so we must endure darkness and be afraid of fires.' 'It is very beautiful,' Smith murmured, and followed her, carrying a high wax candle in each hand. The warm wax from one of them spiltdown the copper candle-stick on to his hand, and he felt warmed throughout, as if he had drunk a pleasant draught. Before the pleasure had passed, Hilde said: "This is your room,' and led him into a small, dark apartment smelling faintly of pine wood. The long black windows sparkled in the candlelight and dimly reflected himself standing stock still, and Hilde moving familiarly about. 'Here I hope you will be comfortable,' she said. "This door is to your bathroom, this mechanism turns off or on the heat.' "Thank you,' said Smith, 'thank you awfully.' He heard himself accentuate his English nationality. Hilde cam...« less