Part 9 (1/2)
”Karvay is right,” said Rety to his trembling cousin; ”How dare you speak disrespectfully of my guests? I know the gentlemen of St.
Vilmosh.”
”So do I!” roared Karvay, ”every tenth man of my prisoners is from St.
Vilmosh. Capital fellows they are! Your thief and murderer is a capital fellow in war, _or_ at an election.”
”There are some exceptions to that rule,” interposed Shaskay. ”In the insurrection of 1809, I understand the men of St. Vilmosh----”
It was lucky for Shaskay that the Cortes had by this time come to the gate, for Mr. Karvay was preparing to pay the ex-receiver-general in kind, by an allusion to sundry monies. His biting jokes on that tender topic were, however, cut short by the arrival of the whole n.o.ble mob in not less than thirty large vans. The vans in front and in the rear were ornamented with large yellow flags with suitable mottoes, such as
”Rety for ever!”
”No n.o.bleman will condescend to build streets and d.y.k.es!”
and mongrel rhymes in the following fas.h.i.+on:--
”To pay no taxes, to pay no toll; To be exempt from the muster-roll; To make the laws, and to live at we can, Abusing the salt-prices: This befits a n.o.bleman.”
Every n.o.bleman had a green and yellow feather stuck in his hat or kalpac; these colours being emblematical of the hopes of their own party, and the envy of their adversaries, while they served the practical purpose of a badge of recognition.
The sheriff advanced, amidst violent cheering, to the front steps of the hall; the mob of n.o.blemen shouting Halljuk[11]! formed a circle, and the notary of St. Vilmosh, stepping forward, addressed the patron in a speech of extraordinary pathos; in the course of which the words--Most revered,--Greece,--Rome,--Cicero,--patriotism,--singleness of purpose,--load star,--fragrant flowers,--forked tongues, pyramids, and steeple--were neither few nor far between, and which concluded with an a.s.surance of the unbounded attachment of the const.i.tuency to the ill.u.s.trious patriot he (the orator) had the supreme honour of addressing, and the quotation of ”Si fractus illabetur orbis, impavidum ferient ruinae,” or to adopt the translation of the whipper-in of the Cortes:--
[Footnote 11: Hear! hear!]
”May the tulip-flowers bloom for aye, And Rety be our sheriff this day!”
This speech, but especially its conclusion, called forth a torrent of applause; and the enthusiasm reached its culminating point, when Mr.
Rety, as usual, a.s.sured them that he was overwhelmed with confusion--that he was unprepared--that this was the happiest day of his life--that he had no ambition, but that it appeared his friends of St.
Vilmosh commanded his services, and that he was always the man who----
The a.s.surance that Mr. Rety was ”always the man who” excited cheers of the most deafening magnitude from his audience; and after the whipper-in had informed the sheriff that but one thing was wanting to the happiness of the n.o.ble mob, and that this one thing was the permission to kiss Lady Rety's hand, the crowd uttered another frantic shout of Eljen! and rushed into the house.
A sumptuous repast awaited them in the sheriff's dining-room and in the barn. The former apartment was occupied by the _elite_ of the company, while the lower precincts of the barn sheltered a less select, though by no means a less n.o.ble party. The _elite_ feasted on four-and-twenty different kinds of sweetmeats, with Hungarian Champagne, Tokay, and ices; and the great ma.s.s of the Cortes filled their n.o.ble stomachs with Gulyash and Porkolt, Tarhonya, cream-cakes, dumplings, roast meats, wine and brandy.
Etelka left the company immediately after dinner, while the Lady Rety conversed with some of the rising a.s.sessors and clergymen of the district. The gentlemen smoked their pipes in the hall, and in front of the house; and if the notary of St. Vilmosh was not among their number, his absence may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that Etelka's maid, Rosi, lived in another part of the house.
Akosh and Kalman were walking in the garden. They were equals in age and station, and of course they were sworn friends. Nevertheless, the two young men were utterly different in their characters and tempers. Kalman was, by his education and const.i.tution, a Betyar, that is to say, a root-and-branch Magyar of the old school; but it was his great ambition to be mistaken for a man of high European breeding and refinement.
Akosh, on the other hand, who had the advantage of the best education which Paris and London can afford, had taken it into his head to act the Magyar, _par excellence_. Neither of them succeeded in maintaining his artificial character; and especially on that day they had both signally failed in their endeavours to falsify the old proverb: ”Naturam expellas furca; tamen usque recurret.”
Akosh was indeed a Betyar when the dinner commenced; but he grew less talkative and noisy as the talking and the noise around him increased, until at length he found himself fairly silenced. Kalman, who sat by Etelka, and who was greatly cheered by the kind manner in which she treated him (for poor Kalman was desperately in love with Miss Rety), took but little wine, and for a time his conduct and conversation were all that he or Etelka could wish. But by degrees he fell back into his Betyarism, until the displeased looks and curt replies of the lady made him aware of his error. At the end of the dinner he was as silent as his friend. He scarcely ventured to look at Miss Rety; and when dinner was over he hurried Akosh to the garden, there to bewail his sad and cruel fate.
”I am the most wretched of mortals!” cried he. ”Did you observe the manner in which your sister treated me? She does not love me--nay, she detests and despises me!”
”Are you mad?” replied Akosh.
”No! I am not mad. Etelka does not love me; nor will she ever love me, and she is right. She is too good for the like of me.”
”You ought never to take any wine, Kalman; it makes you sad.”
”So you _did_ see it? And she, too, is disgusted with me! I will leave the country! I will go to a place where n.o.body knows me! where your sister will not be annoyed by my presence!”
Kalman's lamentations were here cut short by Akosh, who, on being informed of the reason of this extraordinary distress, pledged his word that he would reconcile his sister to his friend; and Kalman's grief having given way to the hope of fresh favour, the two young men turned back to the house to find Etelka, and to solicit and obtain her pardon for any offence which her lover might have committed. But fate had willed it otherwise.