The relationship between Ludwig and the Councillor´s wife.
In Journey into the past we meet three people Ludwig, the Councillor and the Councillor´s wife. The relationship between Ludwig and the Councillor´s wife is very important. The relationship is filled with passion, love and curiosity.
Ludwig is described as a very poor young man who worked his way up to university by studying during the night. He had completed his studies of chemistry with distinction. The Councillor of a big factory in Frankfurt offered Ludwig a job which he accepted. The more work Ludwig was given, the more he tackled it and in a very short time he became his employers’ right hand man. As the Councillor´s right hand man Ludwig first meet the Councillor´s wife.
As soon as Ludwig met the wife of the Councillor he felt that it was something in the air. She could see Ludwig´s situation in a warm and sympathetic way. And she was deadly beautiful. A lot of pages in the book describes his intensive passion for this lady. The Councillor one day wanted Ludwig to work for him in Mexico for two years, doing mining operations, a job that could give him a big position as well as wealth. When Ludwig told the Councillor´s wife the news, they both had a hard time, knowing that they would be separated for a so long time was hard for them both. And now Ludwig knew that his feelings for her were mutual. She promised to wait for him, when returning home.
They wrote long love letters every week during the two years before World War separated them. Now he did not have any letters any more, he started to forget her. He got married and had children. After over nine years in Mexico he was asked to go to Berlin for an American firm. He got in contact with his old love by telephone and she invited him over to Frankfurt. After so many years the meeting was not what he had expected, they had an ordinary polite conversation without touching the previous love for each other. When Ludwig returned to the hotel, he wrote a long love letter, where he asked her to go with him to Heidelberg by train. In Heidelberg they took a walk trying to wake up the old feelings. They both understand that the present is not like the past, although the relationship is open and we do actually not know how their relationship will develop further.
- Hallvard
