GOOD NEWS OR BAD?
Father Roger had been shown all over the house, had seen all the
additions and improvements, inside and out, and now felt as much at home
in Master Peter's castle as he had done in Master Stephen's.
It had been finally settled that he should start for Pest the next
morning, and Master Peter insisted on supplying him with a horse and an
armed escort.
"And then," said he, unconsciously betraying the curiosity which was
devouring him, in spite of his assumed indifference, "then, when you
send the horses back, you know, you can just write a few lines and tell
me what the King wants to see you about."
Peter was quite anxious for him to be off that he might hear the sooner;
but it struck him that, as Father Roger would be in Pest long before the
end of the month if he made the journey on horse-back, and yet could not
present himself at Court until the time appointed, he might perhaps be
glad of a lodging of his own, though, of course, there were monasteries
which would have received him. He offered him, therefore, the use of an
old house of his own (in much the same condition, he confessed, as his
present dwelling had been in), but in which he knew there were two
habitable rooms, for he had lived in them himself on the occasion of his
last visit to the capital.
All was settled before supper-time, and Master Peter was just beginning
to wonder when that meal would make its appearance, when the sharp,
shrill sound of a horn gave him something else to think of.
"Someone is coming! They are letting down the drawbridge," he exclaimed,
with much satisfaction at the prospect of another guest; and shortly
after, ushered in by Talabor, there entered the hall a young man,
somewhat dusty, but daintily apparelled. His black hair had been curled
and was shining from a recent application of oil, and in his whole
appearance and demeanour there was the indescribable something which
tells of the "rising man."
"Ah, Clerk, it is you, is it?" said Peter, without rising from his seat.
"My brother is well, I hope?"
"Master Stephen was quite well, sir, when I left him three days ago,"
returned the youth, as he made an elaborate bow to the master, another
less low, but delivered with an amiable smile to Dora, and bestowed a
careless third upon Father Roger.
"Well, and what is the news?"
"Both good and bad, Mr. Szirmay," was the answer, with another bow.
"Out with the bad first then, boy," said Master Peter quickly, knitting
his brows as he spoke. "Let us have the good last, and keep the taste of
it longest! Now then!"
"You have heard, no doubt, sir, what rumours the land is ringing with?"
began the clerk with an air of much importance.
"We have!" said Peter, shrugging his shoulders; "let them ring till they
are tired! If that is all you have jogged here about, gossip, you might
as well have stayed quietly at home."
"Matters are more serious than you are perhaps aware, sir," said the
clerk; and with that he drew from his breast a packet done up in cloth,
out of which he produced a piece of parchment about the size of his
first finger. This he handed proudly to Master Peter, who snatched it
from his hand and passed it on to Father Roger, saying:
"Here, Father, do you take it and read it! I declare if it does not look
like a summons to the Diet! There, there! blowing the trumpet, beating
the drum in Pest already, I suppose!"
"Quite true, sir, it is a summons to the Diet," said Libor. "His
Majesty, or his Excellency the Palatine, I am not certain which of the
two, was under the impression that you were still with us, and so sent
both summonses to Master Stephen."
"With _you_!" laughed Master Peter. "All right, _kinsman_, we shall obey
his Majesty's commands, and I hope it may not all prove to be much ado
about nothing."
With kindly consideration for his host's imperfect Latin, Father Roger
proceeded to translate the summons into Hungarian.
The King never made many words about things, and his order was plain and
direct. The Diet was to be held on such a date, at such a place, and it
was Master Peter's bounden duty to be present; that was all!
"Ah, didn't I tell you so, Father?" said he gravely; "we shall be
lighting our fires before the cold sets in, and pitching our tents
before there is any camp! People are mad! and they are hurrying on that
good King of ours too fast. Well, _kinsman_," he went on sarcastically,
"tell us all you know, and if there is any more bad news let us have it
at once."
"Bad news? it depends upon how you take it, sir; many call it good, and
more call it bad," returned Libor, a trifle abashed by Master Peter's
mode of address.
"And pray what is it that is neither good nor bad? I don't like riddles,
let me tell you, and if you can't speak plainly you had better not speak
at all!"
"Sir," said Libor, "I am only telling you what other people say----" and
then, as Master Peter made a gesture of impatience, he went on, "Kuthen,
King of the Kunok, has sent an embassy to his Majesty asking for a
settlement for his people----"
"Ah! that's something," interrupted Peter, "and I hope his Majesty sent
them to the right-about at once?"
"His Majesty received the ambassadors with particular favour, and in
view of the danger which threatens us, declared himself ready to welcome
such an heroic people."
"Danger! don't let me hear that word again, clerk!"
"It is not my word," protested Libor, with an appealing glance at Dora,
intended to call attention to Master Peter's injustice.
"It's a bad word, whosesoever it is," insisted Peter. "Well, what more?
are we to be saddled with this horde of pagans then?"
"Pagans no longer! at least they won't be when they come to settle. They
are all going to be baptized, the King and his family and all his
people. The ambassadors promised and were baptized themselves before
they went back."
"What!" cried Father Roger, his face lighting up, "forty thousand
families converted to the faith! Why, it is divine, and the King is
almost an Apostle!"
The good Father quite forgot all further fear of danger from the Kunok,
and from this moment took their part. He could see nothing but good in
this large accession of numbers to the Church.
"New Christians!" said Peter, shaking his head doubtfully, as he saw the
impression made upon Roger. "Are such people Christians just because
the holy water has been poured upon their faces? They are far enough
from Christianity to my mind. Who can trust such folk? And then, to
admit them without consulting the nation, by a word of command--I don't
like the whole thing, and so far as the country is concerned, I see no
manner of use in it."
"You see, Mr. Szirmay," said Libor, with a little accession of boldness,
"I was quite right. There are two of you here, and while one thinks the
news bad, the other calls it 'divine.'"
"Silence, gossip!" said Peter haughtily, "you are not in your own house,
remember. Be so good as to wait till your opinion is asked before you
give it." Then, turning to Roger, he went on: "Well, if it is so, it is,
and we can't alter it; but there will be a fine piece of work when the
Diet does meet. It must be as his Majesty wills, but I for one shall not
give my consent, not though the Danube and Tisza both were poured upon
them. One thing is clear, we are called to the Diet and we must go, and
as for the rest it is in God's hands."
So saying, Master Peter began to pace up and down the room, and no one
ventured to interrupt him. But presently he came to a standstill in
front of the clerk, and said gloomily, "You have told us ill news enough
to last a good many years; so, unless there is more to come, you may go
on to the next part, and tell us any good news you have."
"I can oblige you with that, too," said the clerk, who evidently felt
injured by Peter's contemptuous way of speaking; "at least," he added,
"I hope I shall not have to pay for it as I have done for my other news,
though I am sure I am not responsible, for I neither invited the Kunok
nor summoned your Honour to the Diet."
"Stop there!" said Peter, with some little irritation. "It seems to me,
young man, that you have opened your eyes considerably since you left my
brother; you talk a great deal and very mysteriously. Now then, let us
have any good news you can tell us!"
"His Majesty has appointed Father Roger to be one of the Canons of
Nagyvárad (Grosswardein), and Master Peter's long suit has terminated in
a favourable judgment. The land in dispute is given back, with the
proceeds for the last nine years."
"That is good news, if you will," cried Peter, both surprised and
pleased; and without heeding a remark from Libor that he was glad he had
been able to say something which was to his mind at last, he went on:
"Now, Dora, my dear, we shall be able to be a little more comfortable,
and we will spend part of the winter in Pest. Young ladies want a little
amusement, and you, my poor girl, have had to live buried in the woods,
where there is nothing going on."
"The Hédervárys are in Pest too," the clerk chimed in, "and you will
have a delightful visit, my dear young mistress. His Majesty's Court was
never more brilliant than it is now; the Queen likes to see noble young
dames about her."
Dora and Peter both looked at the clerk in amazement. He had been four
years in Master Stephen's house, without ever once venturing to make
Dora such a long speech as this.
"What has come to this man?" and "How very odd!" were the thoughts which
passed through the minds of Peter and his daughter.
But, forward as she thought him, Dora would not quite ignore the young
man's remark, so she turned to Father Roger, saying, "I know it is a
very gay life in Pest, and no doubt there is plenty of amusement at the
Court, but I am not at all anxious to leave this place. It is not like a
convent after all, and we have several nice people not far off who are
glad to see us."
But having made a beginning, Libor had a great desire to prolong the
conversation.
Roger and Peter were now both walking up and down the room, while Dora
was standing at one of the windows, so the opportunity seemed to be a
favourable one, and he proceeded to say gallantly that Dora was wronging
the world as well as herself by shutting herself out from
amusement--that there was more than one person who was only waiting for
a little encouragement--that her many admirers were frightened away--and
so on, and so on, until Dora cut him short, saying that she was sorry he
should oblige her to remind him of what Master Peter had just said
about not giving his opinion until it was asked for; and with that she
left him and joined her father.
"What a haughty little thing it is for a forest flower, to be sure,"
said Libor to himself; but he felt just a little ashamed nevertheless,
as he was well aware that he had taken an unheard-of liberty.
Conversation of any sort between the pages and the daughters of the
house was not "the thing" in those old days; and, quite apart from the
turn which Libor had been so little respectful as to give to his
remarks, Dora had felt uncomfortable at being forced into what she
considered unbecoming behaviour.
"Ah! well," Libor reflected, "if she never moves from here she will find
herself left on the shelf, and then--why then she won't be likely to get
a better castle offered her than _mine_!"
And thereupon Libor (whose eyes had certainly been "opened," as Master
Peter said) walked up to the two gentlemen, as if he were quite one of
the company, and joined in their conversation at the first pause.
"Thunder and lightning! something has certainly come to this fellow. Let
us find out what it is," was Master Peter's inward comment. He was
beginning to be as much amused as irritated by the young gentleman's
newly acquired audacity; but it annoyed him to have him walking beside
him, so he came to a standstill and said, "Well, Libor, you have talked
a good deal about one thing and another, according to your lights; now
tell us something about your worthy self. Are you still in my brother's
service and intending to remain permanently? or have you other and more
brilliant prospects? A youth such as you, clerk, may do and be anything
if he sets about it in the right way. Let us hear something about
yourself."
"Sir," replied Libor, "it is true that I have been so fortunate as to
share with many noble youths the privilege of living in Mr. Stephen's
household, and of winning his confidence; also I have enjoyed your own
favour in times past, Master Peter. 'Service' you call it, and rightly
too; but to-day I have discharged the last of Mr. Stephen's commissions.
He has treated me with a fatherly kindness and marked consideration
beyond my deserts, but I am now on my way to Pest to see Mr. Paul
Héderváry, who has offered me the post of governor of one of his
castles."
"Governor! at four or five and twenty! That is remarkable, Mr. Libor,"
said Peter, with evident surprise. "A governor in the service of the
Hédervárys is a very important person! I can only offer my best
congratulations--to yourself, I mean."
Libor was no fool, and he perfectly understood; but he made answer, with
his nose well in the air, "I can only thank you, sir, but I hope the
time may come when Mr. Héderváry also will be able to congratulate
himself on the choice which does me so much honour."
"Ah! I hope so, I hope so," laughed Master Peter cheerily. He was
pleased with himself for finding out how the clerk had been promoted,
and he reflected that true, indeed, was the old Latin proverb: _Honores
mutant mores._
As for Libor, though he felt injured, as much by Master Peter's manner
as by his words, he lost nothing of his self-complacency.
Self-confidence, self-esteem, his new title, and his brilliant prospects
were enough to prevent his being put out of countenance for more than a
moment by the snubs he had received both from father and daughter. As
for Canon Roger, he, good man, was just as humble now as before his
advancement, and either did not, or would not, see the young man's
bumptiousness; he continued to treat him, therefore, in the same
friendly way as when they were house-mates.
"And so you are on your way to Pest," said Peter; "Father Roger is also
on his way thither. It is always safer to travel in company when there
are so many ruffians about, so I hope you will attend him."
"I shall be very willing if Father Roger has no objection; we can travel
together."
"The Canon of Grosswardein, remember," said Peter a little sharply.
"And Mr. Héderváry's governor," concluded Libor boldly and without
blinking.
"Well, Mr. Governor, in the meantime you may like to look round the
place a little before it is too dark; I may perhaps ask you to do a
commission or two for myself by-and-by, but for the present will you
leave us to ourselves?"
This was such an unmistakable dismissal that Libor actually lost his
self-possession. Hesitatingly, and with a bad grace enough, he advanced
towards the door, but there he stopped, recovered himself, and
exclaimed:
"Dear me! how forgetful I am! But perhaps the reception I have met with
may account for it."
"Reception!" burst forth Peter, whose gathering wrath now boiled over at
this last piece of insolence. "I don't know, gossip, or rather Mr.
Governor, I don't know what sort of reception you expected other than
that which you have always found here! Hold your greyhounds in, clerk.
If Mr. Stephen and Mr. Héderváry are pleased to make much of you, that
is their affair. For my own part I value people according to their
worth, and the only worth I have as yet discovered in you, let me tell
you, is that at which you rate yourself."
Master Peter was not the man to be trifled with, and for a moment Libor
felt something of the old awe and deference usual with him in the
presence of his superiors. But a deep sense of injury speedily overcame
his fear, and after a short pause he made answer:
"As you will, sir. Since you assign Héderváry's governor a place among
the dogs, I have nothing further to do save to take my leave."
With that he again turned to the door.
"If there is any message which you have forgotten, boy, you don't stir
from here until you have given it. That done, you may go when you like,
and where you like, and no one will detain you."
Master Peter spoke as one who intended to be obeyed, and Libor was
impressed, not to say cowed. He was very well aware that, as they would
say in these days, it was "not well to eat cherries from the same dish"
as the Szirmay nobles. (At the time of which we are writing a dish of
cherries was a sight rarely to be seen.) He held it, therefore, wiser to
yield, and mastering himself as well as he could, he said:
"Mr. Stephen wished me to inform you that Bishop Wáncsa has been
inquiring whether you would be disposed to let your house in Pest to his
Majesty."
"The King? Let it? Is Mr. Wáncsa out of his mind? Do their Majesties
want to hire a great heap of stone like that, where even I have never
been comfortable!"
"That is my message, but I can explain it. His Majesty wants the house
prepared for the King of the Kunok and his family. You are at liberty to
agree or not, but in any case Mr. Stephen will expect your answer by
messenger, unless you are pleased to send it direct to the Bishop by
myself, or the Canon, as we shall find him in Pest and it will reach him
the sooner."
"What! Matters have gone so far that they are getting quarters ready for
Kuthen, and the nation is still left in ignorance."
Libor merely shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, as the question
was not particularly addressed to himself.
"Hem!" said Peter thoughtfully. "I should have liked to spend part of
the winter in my own house in Pest, but it is in a bad state, very bad,
and if the King is willing to repair and put it in order, he shall have
it free for three years. It will be time enough to talk about rent after
that."
"May I take the answer to Mr. Wáncsa?" inquired Libor, who was still
standing at the open door.
"Yes, Governor, you may!" answered Peter, really at heart one of the
best-natured men, who was always and almost instantly sorry when he had
lost his temper and "pulled anyone's nose."
"You may, Libor, and we will not let the sun go down upon our wrath, so
you will remain here, if you please, sup well and sleep well. Talabor
will see that you have all you want, and then you will travel on with
the good Father and some of my men-at-arms."
Then turning, and giving his hand to Roger, he added:
"I am sorry, Father, that as things are you see I can't give you
quarters in my house; but the King comes before all."
As for Libor, he chose to consider that Peter had made him some sort of
amends by his last speech; it pleased him much to play the part of an
injured person who has accepted an apology, and he therefore at once
resumed his polite manners, and bowing and smiling he replied with all
due deference:
"As far as I am concerned, sir, nothing can give me greater pleasure,
and since you permit me to do so, I will remain."
With another bow he left the room, not the house, which indeed he had
never intended to leave, if he could help himself.