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It is an evil world: my husband is dead by the sword; dead are both my sons, fighting for Eric; dead is Unna, Thorod's daughter; Asmund, my lord, is dead, and dead is Björn; and now Gudruda the Fair, whom I have rocked to sleep, leaves us to go over sea. I may not go with her, for my daughter's sake; yet I almost wish that I too were dead."
Thou hast cast a glamour over me these many years, Groa, and it is gone." "Mayhap, Asmund Asmundson mayhap, thou knowest me; but I tell thee that thou shalt see me in a worse guise before thou weddest Unna. What! have I borne the greatest shame, lying by thy side these many years, and shall I live to see a rival, young and fair, creep into my place with honour?
"If she can't plough, she can at all events pull the sleigh to church; and you have as good a right as any one to put on airs, if you choose." "Yes, she has brought us blessing," replied Unna, quietly; "and we are going to keep her till she dies of old age." To the children Stella became a pet, as much as if she had been a dog or a cat.
"It shall be as thou wilt, son; to-morrow we will send to Unna and bid her here, if it pleases her to come." Now Ospakar stayed three more days at Middalhof, till his horses were found, and he was fit to travel, for Eric had shaken him sorely. But he had no words with Gudruda and few with Asmund. Still, he saw Swanhild, and she bid him to be of good cheer, for he should yet have Gudruda.
Koll filled, and, as Asmund called the toasts one by one, Koll handed the cups to him. Asmund drank deep of each, till at length his sorrow passed from him, and, together with all who sat there, he grew merry. Last of all came the toast of the bride's cup. But before Asmund called it, the women of the household drew near the high seat to welcome Unna, when she should have drunk.
Still, when they heard of those things that he had wrought on Horse-Head Heights, they welcomed him for his deed's sake. Eric sat two nights at Coldback, and on the second day Saevuna his mother and Unna rode thence with their servants to the wedding-feast of Swanhild the Fatherless.
Perchance thou canst remember how she plotted against thee and Eric ay, how she thrust thee from Goldfoss brink. Say, then, wilt thou take her word? Wilt thou take the word of this witch-daughter of a witch? Wilt thou not think on Groa, her mother, and of Groa's dealings with thy father, and with Unna my kinswoman? As the mother is, so shall the daughter be.
The refugees declared they would "sooner drown themselves in the Unna than again subject themselves to Turkish oppression." Such was the position, and such the considerations, that led the three Empires to adopt more drastic proposals. It was drawn up by the three Imperial Chancellors at Berlin, but Andrassy is known to have given a somewhat doubtful consent.
She had been once wedded, but within a month of her marriage her husband was lost at sea, this two years gone. At first Gudruda was somewhat jealous of this coming of Unna to Coldback; but Eric showed her what was in his mind, and she fell into the plan, for she hated and feared Groa greatly, and desired to be rid of her.
Now Asmund rode back to Middalhof somewhat troubled at heart, for these tidings must be told to Groa, and he feared her and her witchcraft. In the hall he found her, standing alone. "Where hast thou been, lord?" she asked. "At Coldback," he answered. "To see Unna, Eric's cousin, perchance?" "That is so." "What is Unna to thee, then, lord?"
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