RITTER MAGNET
When the lecture had concluded the lamps were carried out of the room,
and only the candles in the lustre were left lighted. Ivan then
exhibited to the astonished spectators the electric light. Many of
them had never seen such a clear, beautiful light as this ball of
virgin-like purity. It looked like one of the heavenly planets, as if
Venus had descended from her place in the firmament and was shining on
the company. The candles in the lustre burned blue, and threw shadows
on the wall. Every face lost all trace of color from the effect of
this strange illumination; people whispered to one another, almost
frightened. Ivan, standing upon the platform, looked like some
magician of old, his features chiselled like a statue, his eyes in
deep shadow; and what added considerably to the picturesque effect,
and heightened the charm of this noble assembly, was the strange
coloring given by the light to the splendid national costume worn by
the company, and the enamelled appearance of the jewels on the ladies'
necks and arms.
The eyes of every one were directed to two persons, while an
involuntary "Ah!" was whispered about at the extraordinary
transformation produced in their appearance. One was Countess Angela.
The light seemed to have taken from her face that pride and
self-satisfaction which, although natural in one so beautiful, gave
an earthly expression to her face, and somewhat marred its beauty. Now
she looked a heavenly vision, with the expression of a glorified
spirit who had done with earth and had soared upward to her true home
in heaven; all earthly passions, joy, sorrow, love, and pride, had
vanished. Such was the miraculous effect of the magic light. The other
transformation was in Countess Theudelinde. She was seated in an
armchair, raised upon a sort of divan. The magic light touched her
face gently, and gave it a fairy-like expression; the noble features
were spiritualized, her naturally pale coloring became transparent,
the brilliants in her magnificent tiara sparkled over her forehead as
a garland of stars; she was sublime, and for five minutes the most
beautiful among the beautiful. It was, nevertheless, many a long year
since her mirror had told her she was beautiful. This, too, was the
miraculous effect of the magic light. Round the hall there were large
pier-glasses set into the wainscot, which reflected every one of the
company. Theudelinde, therefore, could see herself beautified. She
sighed as she thought, "I look like Queen Mab."
Suddenly the miraculous light went out, and the room, lit only by the
candles, seemed in total darkness. "Ah!" in sorrowful tones was echoed
through the assembly; people rubbed their eyes and recognized the
familiar faces again. Alas! it was over too soon. There were no more
angels, fairies, queens, or heroes; only a group of excellent
every-day people, counts and countesses. The face of Angela again wore
its proud, vain expression, and Theudelinde was once more stiff and
ill-tempered.
Ivan now descended from his platform, and received the congratulations
and compliments due to his efforts. There were different opinions, of
course, but they were private. Every one joined in praising the
lecturer to himself.
Ivan thanked every one for their approval, but with a coldly reticent
manner, and soon disengaged himself from his admirers to go in search
of his hostess; he wished to thank her for her kindness.
Theudelinde received him with smiles. Countess Angela was with her,
leaning on the back of her aunt's chair. The young girl had just said:
"You looked, auntie, quite lovely--a perfect Queen Mab."
The smile these words had called to Theudelinde's face still lingered
round her lips when Ivan presented himself. For these five minutes of
beauty she was indebted to this man, and was not ungrateful. She gave
him her hand, and thanked him in the most gracious manner for the
enjoyment he had given her.
"I owe you something," returned Ivan. "When you honored my house with
a visit, you gave me a diamond which you allowed me to burn before
your eyes. I now in return for your goodness on that occasion give you
this diamond, which was created before your eyes." With these words he
handed her a piece of carbon, which he had taken from the voltaic
pillar. "As I explained to you in my lecture, coal can be changed by
electricity into a diamond, and in this condition can cut glass."
"Ah!" cried the Countess Angela, her eyes beaming with pleasure, "let
us try the experiment now. Where is there a glass? Yes, one of the
pier-glasses. Come."
Countess Theudelinde was also excited. She stood up, and went with the
others to the pier-glass.
"Write one of the letters of the alphabet," said Angela, and watched
Ivan attentively. She was curious to see the letter he would choose.
If he were vain, as very likely he was, he would write his own initial
"I"; if a toady and flatterer, like most of the people round her aunt,
he would choose "T," as the countess's initial; and if he were a silly
fool, like so many other men, he would write "A." In either of these
cases he would have seen on the beauty's face a scornful smile.
Ivan took the piece of coal, and with the point wrote on the glass the
letter "X." Both ladies expressed their astonishment at seeing the
coal write, and Countess Theudelinde assured Ivan it should be
preserved carefully with her other jewels.
Countess Angela stood so near Ivan that the folds of her dress touched
him.
"I believe," she said, slowly, "every word you told us. I beg of you
do not tell me that all your romantic descriptions were but the
necessary clothing of a dry scientific subject, meant to make it
palatable to your silly, ignorant audience, and to raise in their
minds a wish to seek further, so that they might in so seeking acquire
a taste for knowledge. I do not want to seek, I believe implicitly all
you said; but of this world of wonder and miracles I would know more.
How far does it go? What more do you see, for the magician must know
everything?"
The young countess looked into Ivan's eyes as she spoke with a strange
magnetic power impossible to resist. Such a look as this had often
dazzled men's brains.
"You said, also," continued Angela, "how fiery and strong are those
who live in this magnetic kingdom, but that they have no credit for
the virtues they possess; it is due to the working of magnetism. I
believe this also. Magnetism has, however, two poles, the north and
the south pole. I have read that the opposite poles are drawn to one
another, and the homogeneous drift asunder. If, therefore, in the
magnetic kingdom hearts are drawn to one another, seek one another,
love one another, which is an immutable fact, so also is it an
immutable fact that there must be human beings who hate one another
with an undying, a deadly hatred, and that such hatred is no sin. Am I
not right?"
Ivan felt that he was driven into a corner; he understood the drift of
the countess's question. Here his knowledge of natural philosophy came
to his assistance.
"It is true," he said, "that so far as life upon the earth is in
question, there must also exist antipathies and sympathies. You have
studied magnetism, you have read of the poles, therefore you must know
that there exists an equator, or line, which is neither north nor
south. This is the magnetic equator, that neither draws the magnet nor
repulses it, and here there is perfect peace. Just such an equator is
found in every human heart, and however a man may be carried away by
the passions of love or hatred, his line remains unchangeable, and
those who dwell there dwell in peace."
"And who are the people who live under the magnetic equator?" asked
the countess, with curiosity.
"For example, parents and their children should dwell there."
The young girl's face was covered with a vivid blush; her beautiful
eyes shot a battery of lightning glances at Ivan, who remained quite
unmoved under this battery.
"We must talk more of this," she said, with sudden dignity.
Ivan bowed before the haughty beauty, who turned and left him to the
company of her aunt or of his own sex. He preferred the latter.
Meantime, the lecture being over, a rush had been made to the
refreshments. The army of outsiders were the first in the field. If
they were of little account elsewhere, they took first place at the
buffet, and here the citizen showed distinctly his origin.
Ivan mixed with the company, and conducted himself as one accustomed
to such society, and quite at his ease in it, and he was well
received. The men were very civil towards him; every man under forty
used the friendly "thou" in addressing him; he was made one of
themselves. It didn't matter much, as he was said to be leaving Pesth
the next day, and would be lost in the depths of Mesopotamia. Some one
said he came from Africa. They tried teasing him a bit, all in a
friendly way, and were pleased to find this pedant was an excellent
fellow, who took the joke in good part, laughed heartily at a
well-delivered thrust, and returned it with a sly hit, which never
offended any one's feelings.
"He is one of us," they said. "This man is up to everything; he is a
capital fellow. We must give him a good time."
"Is it true that you don't drink wine?" asked the Marquis Salista of
Ivan.
"Once a year."
"And to-day is not the anniversary?"
"No."
"Then we have drunk enough for one year; let us be moving."
Some of the men returned to the drawing-room; these were, for the most
part, the young fellows, and those who wished to dance. The ladies,
after their tea, had begun to play quadrilles, and even the "Csárdás"
for those who wished for it.
Count Stefan, however, drew away the better portion of the men to his
quarters, which were on the second story of the countess's house. Here
he entertained in his way. His rooms being on the other side of the
house, no noise penetrated to the story below, which was necessary, as
the count's champagne was of the very best, and given with no sort of
stint; it flowed, in fact. Ivan, who was of the party, showed himself
in a new light; he drank wine; his toasts were spicy, his anecdotes
fresh and amusing, his wit sharp and unrestrained; and although he
drank freely, he didn't turn a hair, he was quite steady.
"Brother," hiccoughed Count Geza, who towards two o'clock was half
drunk, "the captain and I have agreed that when you are quite done up
we shall carry you home and put you to bed; but, my dear friend, my
dear Ritter Magnet, the misery is that I don't think I can get up the
stairs; I am quite done. Therefore, take your wings and fly, and let
the captain take his, and both of you fly home. As for me--" Here the
count laid down on the sofa and fell asleep.
Every one laughed; but the name he had given Ivan--Ritter
Magnet--stuck to him.
"Do you care to play cards, my learned one?" said the Marquis Salista.
"Once every three years."
"That is not often enough."
The marquis could not at this moment explain why it was not often
enough, for at this moment Count Stefan acquainted his guests that it
was time for them to depart, seeing that the ball below stairs had
broken up, and every one had gone away. The countess's rest,
therefore, might be disturbed by any noise overhead. Every one agreed
that this was quite proper.
"Only," said Salista, "there is no need for us to go home. Let us
have the card-table. Let us spend our time well. Who is for a game?"
Three players soon presented themselves; Baron Oscar was one of the
first. But the fourth? The captain called to Ivan.
"Now, my learned friend."
Count Stefan thought it necessary to inform the stranger, who was his
guest, that at the tarok-table the stakes were very high.
"Only a kreuzer the point," said the captain.
"Yes, but kreuzer points in such a game often amount to seven or eight
hundred gulden to the losing side. These gentlemen have changed a
simple game into a hazardous venture."
Ivan laughed. "Every day of my life I play hazard with nature itself;
every day I speculate with all I have on a mere chance, and play only
one card." So saying, he rolled his chair to the green table.
The game commenced. The game of hazard, as it is generally played, is
a game of chance, it needs only luck and boldness; a drunken man can
almost win by accident. But as it is played in Pesth it is something
quite different; what is called luck, chance, accident, is here allied
to skill, prudence, consideration, and boldness. The tarok-player must
not only study his cards, but also the faces of his adversaries. He
must be Lavater and Tartuffe in one; he must be a general who develops
at every moment a fresh plan of campaign, and a Bosco who can, from
the first card that is played, divine the whole situation; he must,
however, be generous, and sacrifice himself for the sake of the
general good. Therefore it was that the spectators pitied Ivan when he
sat down to the card-table to play with these three masters of the
game.
It was seven o'clock when the players rose from the card-table. As
Ivan pushed back his chair, the marquis said to him:
"Well, comrade, it is a good thing for the world at large that you
only drink once a year and play cards once in three years, for if you
did both every day there would be no more wine in Salista's cellar nor
no gold left in Rothschild's bank."
Ivan had, in truth, stripped the three gentlemen.
"Nevertheless, we must have a parting cup," continued Salista. "Where
is the absinthe?" As he spoke he filled two large glasses with the
green, sparkling spirit, of which moderate people, regretting this
prudence, it may be, never drink more than a liqueur glass.
Count Stefan shook his head over what he considered a bad joke, but
Ivan did not shrink from the challenge; he clinked his glass with that
of the captain, and emptied it without drawing breath. Then, with his
most courteous bow, he took leave of his host, Count Stefan, who on
his side assured him it would always be a pleasure to receive so
delightful a guest.
As Ivan made his way into the anteroom his step was steady, his air
composed. Not so the marquis; the dose had been too potent for him. He
insisted upon claiming Ivan's astrakhan cap as his, and, as there was
no use arguing the matter with an inebriate, Ivan had to go home in
the military helmet of a hussar officer. On the staircase the captain
maintained that he could fly, that he was one of the inhabitants of
the magnetic kingdom, and had wings. The others had all the trouble in
the world to get him down the stairs. When he came to the first floor
he thought of paying the Countess Theudelinde a visit, to thank her
for her kind reception of his lecture, for he was the lecturer, and he
was ready to blow out the brains of any one who contradicted him. He
was with great difficulty got into a _fiacre_, and driven to his
hotel. When he got there he had to be carried to his bed, where he lay
in a deep sleep until late in the following day.
Meantime Ivan, after a short rest, went about as usual, wrote his
letters, and paid some visits.
"He carries his liquor like a man," said Count Stefan. And from this
time all the world called him the knight of the magnet.
The knight was to be met everywhere. He had numerous visitors; he was
invited to the best houses. He was elected honorary member of the
club; he had been introduced by the abbé. The club had three classes
of members--the day grubs and the evening and the night birds. In the
daytime the library, which was an excellent collection of rare books,
was visited by all the _littérateurs_ of Pesth. From six to eight came
the lawyers and the politicians to play whist and talk politics, and
from eight until midnight the men of fashion had their innings. In
this way two men might go every day to the club and never meet one
another.
Ivan first ransacked the library, then he distributed his time
equally. He thought no more of returning home. He enjoyed everything
and went everywhere, never missing on the opera nights to pay a visit
to the Countess Theudelinde's box on the grand tier.
In the second week of his stay the countess gave her ball. Ivan was
invited, and went.
"Shall you dance?" asked the captain.
"I haven't done so for fifteen years."
"It suits men of our years to look on," remarked the marquis,
languidly. "No man dances now after two-and-thirty."
Looking on was pleasant enough. The nameless grace and wonderful
agility displayed by the aristocratic, fashionable woman was a sight
for the gods to admire. Countess Angela was to-night surpassing fair.
She wore a rose-colored dress, with a body, in the Hungarian fashion,
all studded with pearls; the sleeves were of lace. She had taken a
fancy to dress her hair like the peasant girls, in two long tresses
plaited with ribbons; it suited her to perfection. But men get tired
of everything, even of a sight fit for the gods. After supper one said
to the other:
"Let us make use of our time; the young fellows can dance; let us play
tarok."
Ivan played cards every day. He played most games well; he never
disputed with his partners. He could lose with a good grace; when he
won was not elated. When he held bad cards he showed no ill-temper,
and seldom made a mistake. He was looked upon as an acquisition, and
for a _savant_ he was really a useful man. On this evening he was in
exceptionally good-luck.
Suddenly Count Edmund came into the card-room in a violent hurry. He
said to Ivan:
"Throw down your cards. Angela wishes to dance a turn of the Hungarian
cotillon with you."
Hungarian cotillon! Strange times, that we should have a Hungarian
court, a Hungarian ministry, Hungarian silver and gold coins. That is
nothing wonderful; it is only natural, it is fate, and due to us. But
a Hungarian cotillon belongs to the day of agitators. We dance the
cotillon to the air of "Csárdás."
Ivan obeyed Angela's mandate. When he came to her he bowed low before
her.
"You wouldn't have troubled yourself to come near me only I sent for
you," she said, in a tone of gentle reproach.
"Into the presence of a queen one doesn't intrude; we wait to be
summoned."
"Don't try and flatter me; if you do like the others I shall treat you
as I do them, and not speak one word to you. I much prefer your way,
although you are always offending me."
"I do not remember to have ever offended you."
"Because you do nothing else. You know that very well."
It was now their turn; they joined the waltzers, and no one would have
guessed that it was fifteen years since Ivan had danced.
Meantime, in the card-room there was some gossip over this new whim of
the young countess. Count Edmund, as he shuffled the cards, declared
his cousin Angela was bewitched about this Ritter Magnet.
"Ah, is that so?" cried the Marquis Salista.
"Don't you believe him," interrupted Count Stefan. "I know our pretty
Angela; she is as full of mischief as a kitten. As soon as she remarks
that a man has a hobby-horse, she makes him ride it, puts it through
all its paces, caracoling, leaping, _haute école_. This is her trick:
once she knows the subject which interests a man, she talks of it with
such an earnest face, such sympathetic eyes; and when he has left her,
charmed at her intelligence, her sweetness, she ridicules the
unfortunate devil. This is the way she treated poor Sondersheim, a
very brave young fellow, who has only one fault, that he worships
Angela, and she abhors him. She laughs at everybody."
"That is true; but she praises Ivan, not to his face, but behind his
back to me, and not because he is a man of science, a geologist, but
because he is such a brave man."
"That is another of her tricks; the artful puss knows right well that
the praise which comes at third-hand is the sweetest of all flattery."
"I take good care not to repeat one word to Ivan."
"There you show him real friendship," remarked Salista, laughing.
In the ball-room the dancers had returned to their places.
"You were ready to leave Pesth," Angela was saying, with a charming
pout. "You needn't deny it; the abbé told me."
"Since then circumstances have detained me longer than I expected,"
returned Ivan, coolly.
"Have you got a family at home?"
"I have no one belonging to me in the world."
"And why have you not?"
This was a searching question.
"Perhaps you already know what my business is. I have a colliery; I
work with the miners, and spend my day underground."
"Ah, that explains everything," said Angela, regarding him with tender
sympathy. "Now I understand that you are indeed right. It would be
terrible to condemn a woman to the sufferings a miner's wife must
endure. What can be more terrible than to take leave of her husband
each morning, not knowing whether they will ever meet again; to know
he is in the depths of the earth while she breathes the fresh air of
heaven; to fancy her beloved is perhaps buried alive, and she cannot
hear his cries for help; that even if it is not so, that he is
surrounded by a deadly atmosphere, that it only needs a spark to
become a hell, in which her darling would be lost to her forever? I
can understand how a woman's heart would break under such a daily
agony; even to her child she would say, 'Do not run so fast, else a
stone may fall on your father's head and kill him.'" Then, with a
sudden change of expression, Angela turned angrily to Ivan. "But why
do you stay down in the mine like a common miner?"
"Because it is my element, as the battle-field is that of the soldier,
the sea of the sailor, the desert of the traveller. It is with me as
it is with them--a passion. I love the mysterious darkness of the
world underground."
The warmth with which Ivan spoke these words kindled an answering
enthusiasm in his listener.
"Every passion is absorbing," she said, "especially the passion for
creation and for destruction. I understand how a woman would follow a
man she loved, not only to the field, but into the battle itself,
although the art of war has now become a very prosaic and second-class
affair, and has lost every trace of idealism. I confess, however, the
heroism of the miner is to me incomprehensible. A man who occupies
himself with dead, cold stones is to me like that Prince Badrul-Buder
in the 'Arabian Nights,' who was turned into a stone, and whose wife
preferred a living slave to her marble husband. I prefer those who
penetrate to unknown regions of the globe, and I could envy the wife
of Sir Samuel Baker, who travelled by his side all through the deserts
of South Africa, holding in one hand a pistol, while the other hand
was clasped in that of her husband. Together they bore the burning
heat, together repulsed the savage wild beasts. Hand in hand they
appeared before the King of Morocco, and what the arm of the husband
failed to procure was given to the charms of the wife. I can place
myself in the position of this woman, who, alone and deserted in the
Mangave wood, sat through the livelong night with the head of the
wounded traveller on her lap and a loaded pistol beside her. To heal
his wounds she ventured into the woods and found herbs; for his food
she contrived to cook in the desert. She did this for the only man she
loved, whose only love she is and has ever been. Her name is known and
revered in every place where Europeans have penetrated."
Again they had to join the circle of dancers, and when they returned
to their place Angela resumed the conversation:
"What I said just now was sheer nonsense; the whole thing was the
outcome of despicable vanity. A miserable idea to travel through
countries where a woman is hardly to be distinguished from a beast,
and that because she walks upright; where the ideal of beauty is to
have the upper lip bored into a big hole, so that when laughing the
nose is visible--ridiculous! And then to be proud because she was the
most beautiful woman, and her husband perforce was faithful to her. A
great thing, indeed, to be the queen of beauty amid monsters of
ugliness! No, no; I know of something better, far bolder. A woman,
Fraulein Christian, has accomplished a journey alone on horseback all
across the steppes of Asia. What if a man and a woman had the courage
to penetrate through the Polenia Canal to the warm seas discovered by
Kane? or if a man and a woman had the courage to cast anchor in the
regions of the north pole, and to the inhabitants of that magnetic
kingdom boldly say, 'Compare yourselves with us; we are handsomer,
stronger, more faithful, happier than you are'? That would be a
triumph; and such a journey I would willingly undertake."
As she said these words, Angela's eyes gleamed upon Ivan with the
splendor of the aurora borealis. Ivan decided within himself upon a
sudden experiment.
"Countess, if you have the passion or desire to visit strange worlds,
and to excite the benighted inhabitants to a proper emulation for
something better, truer, more intellectual than that they have
hitherto known, if this is really your laudable wish, I can recommend
to your notice a country equally in need of such enlightenment, and
infinitely nearer to you."
"What is it?"
"It is Hungary."
"But are we not in Hungary already?"
"Countess, you are in it, but not of it. You are merely visiting us.
You do not know what and who we are. You need not go so far as the
poles or Abyssinia; here is a new world open to you, a large field
where your passion for creating and improving can be easily
gratified."
Angela opened her fan, and with an air of indifference fanned her
white bosom.
"What can _I_ do? I am not my own mistress."
"You are not your own mistress, and, nevertheless, you rule."
"Over whom?"
"Countess, it would only need one word from you to bring the green
palace and all it contains from Vienna to Pesth. The society here
requires that leading personality which now in Vienna is lost among
the crowd, whose existence is spent in aimless inaction. Pesth needs
the prince, your grandfather. He adores you. One word from you would
give to our life a new being; one word from you and Prince Theobald
would reside here."
Angela ceased fanning herself; with an angry gesture she folded her
hands, and turned an angry look upon Ivan.
"Do you know that the subject you have just mentioned is so
distasteful to me that any one who has ventured to name it to me has
forfeited my acquaintance?"
"I am quite aware of the fact, countess."
"And why have you dared to approach the subject?"
"I will tell you, countess. Because of an old connection between our
families."
"Ah, that is something quite new. I have never heard of it."
"Possibly not. One of your ancestors was a cardinal, and one of mine
was a minister in Patak--a great difference in their relative
positions, no doubt; and this difference had a terrible result for my
ancestor. The cardinal condemned him to the galleys for life. The
minister had, however, only one word to speak, as the cardinal told
him, and he would be free. That word was _abrenuncio_--'I renounce,'
or 'recant.' He would not say the word, however, and so he went to the
galleys. As they were putting round his neck the iron collar, from
which the chains hang which fasten the slave to his bench, your
ancestor, the cardinal, who was not a hard-hearted man, with tears in
his eyes entreated my ancestor to say the word 'abrenuncio.' The
minister, however, not only refused, but called out 'Non abrenuncio.'
In the same manner I now stand opposite to you and repeat the same
words--'Non abrenuncio.' This is the _rapport_ between us. Would you
treat me as the cardinal did my ancestor?"
Countess Angela tapped her fan upon her knee as she whispered between
her small white teeth, and with a cruel smile upon her lips:
"What a pity that those days are past! If I were in the place of my
ancestor I would order you to have iron goads driven under your
nails."
At this formidable threat Ivan burst out laughing. After a minute
Angela followed his example and laughed also.
It was rather a bold experiment to meet the young beauty's wrath with
a burst of laughter, but it was a good answer to her foolish speech.
The countess felt now that she had given cause for laughter; but she
was offended, nevertheless, and with a haughty look at the offender
she seated herself.
Ivan did not move from her side. A cotillon, even though it be the
"Hungarian," has its uses. One partner cannot leave the other if they
wish to separate.
In the meantime a young man, one of the stupid persons of society,
came to Ivan and whispered in his ear that Edmund sent him to say he
should return to his game; the luck had changed, and the heap of gold
Ivan had left was lost.
"Tell him he has done well," returned Ivan; and he took his
pocket-book from his breast-pocket and handed it to the messenger.
"Tell him to make use of what is in this," he said, "and lose it, if
necessary." And he remained where he was.
Angela never turned her head to him again. The cotillon lasted a long
time; Count Geza, who led it, wished to show that the Hungarian
presented as many opportunities for new figures as the German
cotillon, and the demonstration lasted two hours. Ivan remained to the
end, although Angela preserved her cold silence. When they had to join
in the waltz circle she leaned on his shoulder, her fingers pressed
his, her breath touched his face; when she returned to her place she
resumed her coldness, and kept her head steadily averted.
When the cotillon was over Edmund brought Ivan the news that this long
dance had cost him a thousand gulden. Ivan shrugged his shoulders, as
if the loss didn't concern him.
"Wonderful man!" thought Edmund. Presently he said to his cousin:
"It seems that you kept Ritter Magnet all to yourself, my pretty
cousin."
Angela raised her white shoulder to him, while she said, angrily:
"This man has bored me for a long time."
From the moment that these words were spoken by the queen of fashion a
marked change took place in the opinion of the world as to Ivan's
merits. He was no longer considered a capital fellow, but was looked
upon as a pushing _parvenu_. Angela said nothing more, but this one
sentence conveyed much. There are men of low origin whose own vanity
misinterprets the true meaning of the condescension shown to them by
those above them in station, and by so doing make terrible mistakes
which must be punished. Such bold _parvenus_ must be taught to curb
their wishes. Ivan was counted as one of these. The foolish man had
imagined that a high-born lady, a Bondavara, because she was
patriotic, would, forsooth, stoop to such as he; he had mistaken her
graciousness for the encouragement she might give to one of her own
class. He must be ostracized, and that speedily.
The signal had been given by those words of the countess's: "He has
for a long time bored me." The first means taken under such
circumstances is to make the offender ridiculous. This can be done in
different ways. The victim remarks that his weak points are held up,
that he is never left in peace, that he is perpetually placed in
situations which are arranged to make him a laughing-stock. Not that
any one is rude enough to laugh at him openly; on the contrary, they
are most polite to him, but it is a politeness that provokes laughter.
He soon finds that no one is his friend, no one makes any intimacy
with him, although no one actually insults him; but if he is a man of
any intelligence he soon feels that he is not one of the society, and
that his best part will be to take his hat and go.
This happened now to Ivan, but his habitual phlegm did not desert him;
he understood the situation, and was determined to stand his ground to
the bitter end. He was invited to take part in an amateur opera, made
up of most aristocratic personages; it was done on purpose to subject
him to a mortification. He was given the _rôle_ of the "King." He made
a sensation; his voice was a fine, melodious bass. Angela was the
"Elvira"; Salista, "Ernani"; but the "King" was the favorite.
"The devil is in the man," growled the marquis. "He has been an actor,
I'll bet."
On another occasion he was invited to a fox-hunt at Count Stefan's
splendid hunting-seat near Pesth. The _élite_ of the country round
gathered at these hunts, which took place in the beginning of the
season. It was arranged that Ivan should be mounted on a fiery
Arabian. This was considered a great joke. It would be such fun to see
the quiet book-worm in the saddle; he would have to cling on, for the
Arabian would hardly allow his owner to ride. It would be rare sport.
But here was another disappointment; Ivan sat the fiery racer as if he
had grown in the saddle. When Salista saw him mounted, he muttered
between his teeth:
"The devil is in the fellow. I would take a bet he has been a hussar."
Countess Angela took part in the first run at Count Stefan's. She sat
her horse splendidly; she was quite at home in the field.
About ten sportsmen drew the first cover; the hounds had the fox out
of the bushes, and the cavalcade rode after Renard, who took his
course over a slope of a hill, which was divided by a cleft in the
rock, at the bottom of which ran a mountain stream. The fox took
refuge in this cleft; he probably thought he might find there an empty
fox-hole, into which he might sneak. In any case he might escape by
the skin of his teeth, as the horses could not venture to follow him.
It was a chance, for if the dogs hunted him out of the burrow he could
make tracks by the right-hand side. The hunt was on the left.
"Forward!" cried the daring Countess Angela, and put her horse to leap
the cleft.
It was a breakneck jump. How many will risk their lives to follow her?
When she reached the other side she turned and looked back. Ivan was
beside her. The dogs pursued the fox, who had taken to the stream; the
rest of the hunt galloped along the left side of the chasm. Angela
thought as little about them as they did of her. In every one's mind
there was only one idea--the fox. The countess rode at the very edge
of the chasm, taking no heed of the dizzy height she was on and the
dangerous depths into which one false step of her horse might
precipitate her. She followed poor Renard, who was seeking an outlet,
distracted as he was by his pursuers. Suddenly he rushed out through
the riders on the left bank and took to the woods.
"After him! Tally ho!" resounded along the hillside, and soon fox,
dogs, and horsemen were lost to Angela's sight. At once she turned
her horse's bridle; she made for a short-cut through the mountain,
over which she meant to jump her horse, and so join the hunt without
loss of time. She never looked back to see if Ivan followed her, but
galloped up the steep mountain-side, sitting her horse in splendid
style. At the turn of the path a hare suddenly broke from the cover
under the horse's feet. The animal shied, and swerved violently to one
side, throwing the countess out of the saddle. In the fall the long
skirt of her habit got entangled in the saddle and kept her fastened
to the horse. Her head hung, with all her hair streaming on the
ground. The frightened horse ran towards the crevice; if he dragged
his rider down its side her head would be battered to pieces by the
trunks of the trees. Ivan fortunately caught his bridle in time. He
freed the foolhardy rider from the saddle; she was unconscious. Ivan
laid her upon the soft turf, and pillowed her head upon the stump of a
moss-grown tree. Then he saw how the fall had disarranged her dress.
The malachite buttons had come off the body of her habit, and the
bodice was treacherously open. Ivan drew from his necktie his
breast-pin, and with it closed the countess's corselet.
When Angela came to herself she was alone. Both the horses were tied
to a tree by their bridles. In the distance through the gathering mist
she saw a man coming towards her from the valley below. It was Ivan,
who had gone to fill his hunting-flask with water. The countess rose
at once to her feet; she needed no help. Ivan offered her the water;
she thanked him, but said she was quite herself. Ivan threw the water
away.
"I think it would be well if you were to return to the castle."
"I will do so."
"It is not far. I know a short way through the wood. We can lead the
horses."
"Very well," returned the countess, submissively. But when she looked
at her dress and saw how it was fastened a hot blush covered her face.
When she was in the shade of the wood she turned to Ivan, and said,
suddenly, "Have you ever heard of Julia Gonzaga?"
"No, countess."
"She was the Chatelaine of Fondi. Barbarossa had surprised Fondi in
the night and carried off Julia. A noble knight came to her rescue,
and she escaped with him from the freebooter. It was in the night, and
she had to ride barefooted, for she had just risen from her couch. Do
you know how she rewarded her deliverer? She stabbed him through the
heart with the first dagger that came to her hand."
"And she did right," returned Ivan. "A strange man should not have
seen her naked feet."
"And the man?" asked Angela.
"Ah, poor fellow! he had the misfortune of enjoying too much
happiness."