Part 61 (2/2)
”I have an order and a t.i.tle, the gift of His Excellency.”
”Of course it may lead to more.”
”Oh yes. In return for my winning His Excellency's domains, which he inherited on his mother's side, he will settle on me 5,000 acres of land.”
”In Hohenelm-Weitbreitstein?”
”No: here in the Magyar country.”
”I thought in Hohenelm-Weitbreitstein: for that is a beautiful country.”
Gyali began to see that it was after all something more than simplicity that could give utterance to such easily recognized exaggeration; and when the old man began to inform him, in which section of which chapter of the Corpus Juris would be found inscribed His Excellency's Magyar ”indigenatus,” etc., etc., Gyali began to feel exceedingly uncomfortable, and began to again change the course of the conversation.
He chattered on about His Excellency being a fine, free-thinking man, related a hundred anecdotes about him, how he turned out the Jesuits from his possessions, what jokes he had played on the monks, how he persecuted the pietists, and other such things as might be very inconvenient inc.u.mbrances to the Princ.i.p.ality of Hohenelm-Weitbreitstein,--in the case of any such princ.i.p.ality existing in the world.
The theme lasted the whole of dinner time.
Czipra wanted to do all she could to-day for herself. For the farewell-dinner she sought out all that she had found Lorand liked, and Lorand was ungrateful enough to allow Gyali the field of compliment to himself: he could not say one good word to her.
Yet who knew when he would sit at that table again?
Dinner over, Lorand spent a few minutes in running over the house: to give instructions to every servant as to what was to be done in the fields, the garden and the forest before his return in two weeks' time.
He gave everyone a tip to drink to his health; for to-morrow he was to celebrate a great festival.
Topandy, too, was looking over the preparations for the journey. Czipra was the lady of the house: it was her task, as it had always been, to amuse the guest who remained alone. Topandy never troubled himself to amuse anyone, for whose entertainment he was responsible. Czipra was there, he must listen to what she had to say.
In the meantime the butler, who had been sent to Sarvolgyi's to bring Gyali's traveling cloak, came back.
He brought also a letter from the young lady for Lorand.
”From the young lady?”
Lorand took the letter from him and told him to take the cloak up to the guest's room.
He himself hastened to his own room.
As he pa.s.sed through the saloon, Gyali met him, coming from Czipra's room. The dandy's face was peculiarly flurried.
”My dear friend,” he said to Lorand, ”that gypsy girl of yours is a regular female panther, and you have trained her well, I can tell you.--Where is there a looking-gla.s.s?”
”Yes she is,” replied Lorand. He scarcely knew why he said it: he heard, but only unconsciously.
Only that letter! Melanie's letter!
He was in such a hurry to reach his room with it. Once there and alone, he shut the door, kissed the fine rose-colored note, and its azure-blue letters, the red seal upon it; and clasped it to his breast, as if he would find out from his heart what was in it.
Well, and what could be in it?
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