The morning after my _csardas_ success, a valet in discreet black
brought me a message from the Countess that she expected to see me at
her table at dinner, and from him I learned the names and rank of the
persons I had met the night before. They were all of that high noblesse
which in Hungary assumes a sort of family prestige, and by frequent
intermarriage really possesses many of the close familiar interests
of the family. Austrians, or indeed Germans from any part, are rarely
received in these intimate gatherings, and I learned with some surprise
that the only strangers were an English “lord” and his countess--so the
man styled them--who were then amongst the guests. “The Lord” was with
the Count on the shooting excursion; my Lady being confined to her room
by a heavy cold she had caught out sledging.
Shall I be misunderstood if I own that I was very sorry to hear that an
Englishman and a man of title was amongst the company? Whatever favor
foreigners might extend to any small accomplishments I could lay claim
to, I well knew would not compensate in my countryman's eyes for my want
of station. In my father's house I had often had occasion to remark
that while Englishmen freely admitted the advances of a foreigner, and
accepted his acquaintance with a courteous readiness, with each other
they maintained a cold and studied reserve; as though no difference of
place or circumstance was to obliterate that insular code which defines
class, and limits each man to the exact rank he belongs to.
When they shall see, therefore, thought I, how my titled countryman
will treat me,--the distance at which he will hold me, and the measured
firmness with which he will repel, not my familiarities, for I should
not dare them, but simply the ease of my manner,--these foreigners will
be driven to regard me as some ignoble upstart who has no pretension
whatever to be amongst them. I was very unwilling to encounter this
humiliation. It was true I was not sailing under false colors. I had
assumed no pretensions from which I was now to retreat. I had nothing
to disown or disavow; but still I was about to be the willing guest of
a society, to a place in which in my own country I could not have the
faintest pretension; and it was just possible that my countryman might
bring this fact before me.
He might do worse,--he might question me as to who and what I was; nor
was I very sure how my tact or my temper might carry me through such an
ordeal.
Would it not be wiser and better for me to avoid this peril? Should
I not spare myself much mortification and much needless pain? Thus
thinking, I resolved to wait on the Countess at once, and explain
frankly why I felt obliged to decline the gracious courtesy she had
extended to me, and refuse an honor so full of pleasure and of pride.
She was not alone as I entered,--the Countess Palfi was with her,--and
I scarcely knew how to approach my theme in presence of a third person.
With a bold effort, however, I told what I had come for; not very
collectedly, indeed, nor perhaps very intelligibly, but in such a way as
to convey that I had not courage to face what might look at least like
a false position, and was almost sure to entail all the unpleasant
relations of such. “In fact, Madam,” said I, “I am nobody; and in my
country men of rank never associate with nobodies, even by an
accident. My Lord would not forgive you for throwing him into such
acquaintanceship, and I should never forgive myself for having caused
you the unpleasantness. I don't imagine I have made my meaning very
clear.”
“You have certainly made me very uncomfortable,” broke in Countess
Hunyadi, thoughtfully. “I thought that we Hungarians had rather strict
notions on these subjects, but these of your country leave them miles
behind.”
“And are less reasonable, besides,” said the Palfi, “since your nobility
is being continually recruited from so rich a bourgeoisie.”
“At all events,” cried the Countess, suddenly, “we are here at Schloss
Hunyadi, and I am its mistress. I invite you to dine with me; it remains
for you to decide how you treat my invitation.”
“Put in that way, Madam, I accept with deference;” and I bowed deeply
and moved towards the door. The ladies acknowledged my salute in
silence, and I fancied with coldness, and I retired.
I was evidently mistaken in attributing coldness to their manner; the
ladies received me when I appeared at dinner with a marked cordiality, I
sat next Madame Palfi, who talked to me like an old friend, told me who
the various people at table were, and gave me great pleasure by saying
that I was sure to become a favorite with Count Hunyadi, who delighted
in gayety, and cherished all those that promoted it. Seeing what
interest I took in the ways of Hungarian life, she explained many of the
customs I saw around me, which, deriving from a great antiquity, were
doubtless soon destined to give way before the advance of a higher
civilization. I asked what she knew of the English guests. It was
nothing, or next to nothing,--Count Hunyadi had made their acquaintance
at Baden that summer, and invited them to pass their Christmas with him.
Countess Palfi had herself arrived since they came, and had not seen
them; for “my Lord,” as he was generally called, had left at once to
join the shooting-party, and my Lady had not appeared since the day
after her arrival. “I only know that she is a great beauty, and of most
charming manners. The men all rave of her, so that we are half jealous
already. We were expecting to see her at dinner to-day, but we hear that
she is less well than yesterday.”
“Do you know their name?”
“No; I believe I heard it,--but I am not familiar with English names,
and it has escaped me; but I will present you by and by to Count Greorge
Szechenyi, who was at Baden when the Hunyadi met them,--he'll tell you
more of them.”
I assured her that my curiosity was most amply satisfied already. It was
a class, in which I could not expect to find an acquaintance, far less a
friend.
“There is something almost forced in this humility of yours,” cried
she. “Are we to find out some fine morning that you are a prince in
disguise?” She laughed so merrily at her own conceit that Madame Hunyadi
asked the cause of her mirth.
“I will tell you later on,” said she. We soon afterwards rose to go into
the drawing-room, and I saw as they laughed together that she had told
her what she said.
“Do you know,” said the Countess Hunyadi, approaching me, “I am half of
Madame Palfi's mind, and I shall never rest till you reveal your secret
to us?”
I said something laughingly about my _incognito_ being the best coat in
my wardrobe, and the matter dropped. That night I sang several times,
alone, and in duet with the Palfi, and was overwhelmed with flatteries
of my “fresh tenor voice” and my “admirable method.” It was something
so new and strange to me to find myself the centre of polite attentions,
and of those warm praises which consummate good breeding knows how to
bestow without outraging taste, that I found it hard to repress the wild
delight that possessed me.
If I had piqued their curiosity to find out who or what I was, I had
also stimulated my own ambition to astonish them.
“He says he will ride out with me to-morrow, and does n't care if I give
him a lively mount,” said one, speaking of me.
“And you mean to gratify him, George?” asked another.
“He shall have the roan that hoisted you out of the saddle with his hind
quarters.”
“Come, come, gentlemen, I'll not have my _protégé_ injured to gratify
your jealousies,” said Madame Hunyadi; “he shall be my escort.”
“If he rides as he plays billiards, you need not be much alarmed about
him. The fellow can do what he likes at the cannon game.”
“I 'd give fifty Naps to know his history,” cried another.
I was playing chess as he said this, and, turning my head quietly
around, I said, “The secret is not worth half the money, sir; and if it
really interests you, you shall have it for the asking.”
He muttered out a mass of apologies and confused excuses, to all the
embarrassment of which I left him most pitilessly, and the incident
ended. I saw, however, enough to perceive that if I had won the
suffrages of the ladies, the men of the party had conceived an
undisguised dislike of me, and openly resented the favor shown me.
“What can you do with the foils, young gentleman?” whispered Szechenyi
to me, as he came near.
“Pretty much as I did with you at billiards awhile ago,” said I,
insolently; for my blood was up, and I burned to fix a quarrel
somewhere.
“Shall we try?” asked he, dryly.
“If you say without the buttons, I agree.”
“Of course, I mean that.”
I nodded, and he went on,--
“Come down to the riding-school by the first light tomorrow then, and I
'll have all in readiness.”
I gave another nod of assent, and moved away. I had enough on my hands
now; for, besides other engagements, I had promised the Countess Palfi
to arrange a little piece for private theatricals, and have it ready
by the time of Count Hunyadi's return. So far from feeling oppressed or
overwhelmed by the multiplicity of these cares, they stimulated me to
a degree of excitement almost maddening. Failure somewhere seemed
inevitable, and, for the life of me, I could not choose where it should
be. As my spirits rose, I threw off all the reserve I had worn before,
and talked away with an animation and boldness I felt uncontrollable.
I made _calembourgs_, and dashed off impromptu verses at the piano; and
when, culminating in some impertinence by a witty picture of the persons
around me I had convulsed the whole room with laughter, I sprang up,
and, saying good-night, disappeared.
The roars of their laughter followed me down the corridor, nor did they
cease to ring in my ears till I had closed my door.