Salve Kristiansen loves a beautiful woman named Elisabeth and is evidently loved in return. For a time Elisabeth is attracted to a young officer who wishes to marry her. Her love for Salve prevails, however, and Elisabeth spurns the officer, but Salve, in desperation, has left his native land and is sailing toward foreign shores. After some years he returns to his home and finds that Elisabeth has been true to him. He marries her.
However, the thought of Elisabeth's momentary hesitation does not leave Salve, and this unfortunate circumstance makes life miserable for both. Ten years elapse before the husband and wife finally come to a clear understanding and a genuine appreciation of one another, and now at last are enabled to lay the foundation for a happy life together. The novel emphasizes the need of implicit confidence and trust, if two persons united in wedlock are to live happily together.
