"Lotte-Lena is a nice girl!"said the chamberlain,"apretty girl!She shall have books for her education.But hasshe that which one calls'go'in her brain-genius?And hasshe,what is of as much importance-luck?"
"She has twice won a prize in the lottery,"said thecellar-man,"once she won a wardrobe,and once six pairsof sheets;I call that luck,and she has that!"
"I will ask the key!"said the chamberlain.And heplaced the key upon his forefinger and on the cellar-man'sforefinger,let it turn itself and give letter by letter.
The key said,"Victory and Fortune!"and so Lotte-Lena's future was settled.
The chamberlain at once gave her two books to read: the play of"Dyveke"and Knigge's"Intercourse withPeople".
From that evening a kind of closer acquaintanceshipbetween Lotte-Lena and the chamberlain's family began.She came up into the family,and the chamberlain thoughtthat she was an intelligent girl;she believed in him andin the key.The chamberlain's wife saw,in the boldnesswith which she every moment showed her great ignorance,something childish and innocent.The couple,each intheir own way,thought much of her,and she of them.
"There is such a nice smell upstairs,"said Lotte-Lena.There was a smell,a scent of apples in the pas-sage,where the wife had laid out a whole barrel of"grey-stone"apples.There was also an incense smell of rosesand lavender through all the rooms.
"It is something lovely,"said Lotte-Lena.Her eyeswere delighted with the many lovely flowers,which thechamberlain's wife always had here;yes,even in winterthe lilac and cherry branches flowered here.The leaflessbranches were cut off and put in water,and in the warmroom they soon bore leaves and flowers.
"One might believe that the bare branches weredead,but,look!how they rise up from the dead."
"That has never occurred to me before,"said Lotte-Lena."Nature is charming!"
And the chamberlain let her see his"Key-book"where he had written the remarkable things the key hadsaid,even about half of an apple cake which had disap-peared from the cupboard just the evening when the ser-vant girl had a visit from her sweetheart.The chamberlainasked his key,"Who has eaten the apple cake—the cator the sweetheart?"and the door-key answered,"Thesweet-heart!"The chamberlain knew it before he asked,and the servant girl confessed:the cursed key kneweverything.
"Yes,is it not remarkable?"said the chamberlain."The key!the key!and about Lotte-Lena it predicted'Victory and Fortune!'—We shall see that yet—I answerfor it!
"That is delightful,"said Lotte-Lena.
The chamberlain's wife was not so confident,but shedid not express her doubt when her husband could hear it, but confided to Lotte-Lena that the chamberlain,when hewas a young man,had been quite given up to the theatre.If any one at that time had pushed him,he would certainlyhave been trained as an actor,but the family pushed theother way.He insisted on going on the stage,and to getthere he wrote a comedy.
"It is a great secret I confide to you,little Lotte-Lena.The comedy was not bad,it was accepted at theRoyal Theatre and hissed off the stage,so that it has neverbeen heard of since,and I am glad of it.I am his wife andknow him.Now,you will go the same way;—I wish youeverything good,but I don't believe it will happen,I donot believe in the key!"
Lotte-Lena believed in it;and the chamberlain agreedwith her.Their hearts understood each other in all virtueand honour.The girl had several abilities which the cham-berlain appreciated.Lotte-Lena knew how to make starchfrom potatoes,to make silk gloves from old silk stockingsand to cover her silk dancing-shoes,although she had hadthe means to buy everything new.She had what the chan-dler called "money in the table-drawer,and bonds in thebank".The chamberlain's wife thought she would make agood wife for the apothecary,but she did not say so anddid not let the key say it either.The apothecary was goingto settle down soon,and have his own business in one ofthe nearest and biggest provincial towns.