Meeting Signe

Abstract

On his way to start the new fall term in Helsingfors, Gösta stopped in Stockholm, where the Leffler family had gathered for several days due to special circumstances. Mr. Leffler was due to be released from the hospital at Konradsberg. All spring Mrs. Leffler, Anne Charlotte, and Frits had been trying to put Mr. Leffler in private care. Several times he had also promised to go along when they came to get him, but then turned around in the doorway. Once he had actually set foot in the carriage when he suddenly changed his mind and returned to his room in the hospital. He said that he couldn’t leave as long as his food was being poisoned. But on September 5, 1880, he offered no objections, and he accompanied “both of his sons to Uppsala,” as it stated in the hospital records. Since their father was going to live with Frits in Uppsala, he was the one who signed the release form and assumed “full responsibility for Rector Leffler’s welfare, and for his actions and deeds.” It’s uncertain whether Mr. Leffler actually lived for a short time in the same house as Frits and Mrs. Leffler. Presumably care had already been arranged for him; in any case, the rest of the family was clearly relieved. Gösta left for Helsingfors feeling more optimistic than he had in a long time.