The Poor Plutocrats

with his personal qualities. It could not be denied that he was a delightful companion, always merry, lively, frank, and entertaining. He even made the old gentl

alking at the top of his voice so that everybody might become aware of the fact. Nay, he succeeded, through the courtesy of his new friend, in making

, had no dealings with usurers, always paid cash and was never even in temporary embarrassment, as is so often the case with most landed proprietors

it should be, and everyone wa

nrietta, the i

such as the polite attentions of the baron, the whispering of the domestics, the altered attitude towards her of the various members of the family-who now addressed her in the tone you employ when speaking to a baroness that is to be. And then there was Clementina's chatter! Clementina was now for ever talking of all the sewing a

men of rank in particular, pointing out at the same time how much such women owed to their own families for looking after and providing for them and expressing the hope that

the servants headlong to the chemist's, and descending into the kitchen closely examined every copper vessel there by candle light, scolded the cook and the scullery maids till they were in tears, and terrified Clementina by telling her she was the cause of it all to the speechless confusion of the innocent creature. Not content with this, he made his way at once to Mr. Demetrius

, "you surely don't mean to say

and with cop

that p

instance, has been allowed to stand too long in a cop

to understand how copperas could be develop

e's no dange

it gets into one's food in large quantities there is practically no antidote. A vigorous constitution, indeed, has a good chance of throwing it off; but, taking into c

cannot tell you how anxious I am, on her account I should be so glad, doctor, if you co

. I'll come to-morrow and examine thoroughly the whole lot of them by daylight. The health of the family must not be endangered by such recklessness. And let me tell your honour something else. Are you aware that your honour

t do you mean?" enquir

n his house. His assistant-a fine young fellow, you know him, perhaps?-h

odd coi

poisoning at the same time and all because cop

g man progressing? I

se case than the young lady's. But then he is so much st

sier, doctor, if you never

hat if I had not other patie

entrust them to

I do not often have the chance of studying two such in

ll I ask of you is to

d have a look at her, and then I must return to Mr. Sip

the old man ha

y forbidden to leave Henrietta alone for an instant, and Mr. Demetrius gave special orders that her brother Koloman was not to be allowed to approach within six paces of her bed because he w

s of the poison. Henrietta slowly began to mend. She was still very weak, but the doctor assured them that she

girl whether there was anything in particular she woul

ould say: "I should like to lie in the grave-deep, deep, down." But what

o someone reading to you some nice, amusing novel, Dickens's "Pickwick Papers," for instance, or

rse and Clementina's eyes were too weak for any such office, it was suggested that Margari should be asked to submit to this extra sacrifice, and Clementina succeeded in persuading him to do so by pro

ed her what she would like and how she would like it. Henrietta thereupon directed her to have prepared a soup of such a complicated character (only the morbid imagination of an invalid could have conceived such a monstr

door behind her when Henrietta

nearer to me," she said,

fancied that the young lady had become delirious-it was such an odd thing to ask him to draw nearer. But the sick girl, pr

e to seize the hand of t

. Even here when I sleep it follows me into my dreams. You can free me from it. In you alone have I confidence. You suffer in

ndering in her mind, so to humour her, he promise

l never forget all my life long th

r, while the others took a delight in vexing me, you were the only one who always took m

e ribbon, take them. All through my illness I trembled at the thought that they might ransack my things and find them, and when I came to myself I was worrying myself with the idea that I might perhaps

e looking-glass while he was opening the casket, and that was little eno

ly and looked at him with her lovely, piteous, imploring

h them. You will do this for my sake, dear Margari, will you not? It is just as though one of the dead were to come back to you from the world beyond the gr

oung gentlewoman certainly had a terrifying imagination. Nevertheless he swore by his hope of s

them,

oat, for Clementina's steps were already audible in the adjoining chamber. When she appeared

but thanked him for his kindness and asked him to come again on the morrow if he would be so good. Margari protested that he should consider it the highest honour,

in vain became very curious as to the contents of the packet entrusted to him. What sort of mysterious letters could t

rd would have been as invincible an impediment as unbreakable bolts and bars; but the worthy fellow reassured himself with the reflection that, after all, he was not going to tell anybody the contents of these documents, and he so very much longed to know what it could be that

cautiously opened the bundle which was enwrapped in I know not how many f

interesting themes. He was just about to tie the bundle up again, when it occurred to him to read one of these tiresome dissertations to the end, just to see what sort of style the young scholar affected. And now a great surprise awaited him, for he found that after the first five or six lines t

one so, he clearly perceived that if old Demetrius Lapussa had very particular reasons fo

to betray secrets; yet, it is nevertheless true, that to betray a secret that ought to be known is at least justifiable. Moreover, was it not a Christian duty to let the grandfather know as soon as possible what extraordinary things his granddaughter was turning over in her noddle? And finally-there was money in it!-good solid cash! If old Lapussa did not choose to pay a price for it, and a liberal price too, he

ed at the door and enquired

not!"-so of course he was obliged to open the door, bu

Margari was aware that it was past seven o'cl

to hear the domestics s

n o'clock? Am I a clockmaker or a bell-ringer? If your master wants me to know

room of Mr. Demetrius, to whom he immediately notified the change in the situation by sinking down into a sof

eyes and observed in an even more stridently moral voice than usu

ng presently, but it wo

you mea

ion me to lay hands upon certain Latin exercises of your grandson Ko

mption of sang froid, "you may give them t

our's pardon, th

omeone to look the

t be well to put them into anybody's hands,

grily, "you don't mean to sa

read them a

tell you

use of the young lady's illness. I know why she does not wish to become the wife of Count Hátszegi. N

on your part to read o

ur. I wanted to know whether they were worth one florin, two florins, a hundred florins, a thousand florins, lest you should do me

tinent! Do you want me

ents away from me by force I will fling them into the fire that is burning ther

ney you want,

de Margari still

ery good deal, I can tell you. In fac

re me some petty office at Count Hátszegi's. I don't care what it is, so long as I get a life-long sinecure

ly occurred to

t shall be. I give you my word upon

beg of you, it must be till the term

the term of yo

he won't

including whatever you may get over and above from him. Will you be satisf

ut difficulty that he put the rapacious question: "Will your

materials and I will dicta

ok in his capacity of secretary to Baron Hátszegi, to keep his Honour Demetrius Lapussa informed of all that he saw and heard at the residence of that gentleman, Henrietta's future

st alacrity, produced the Latin exercises in question, first

very well satisfied with the result, that is to say so far as concerned the fidelity of the

marole written down in honest Hungarian by the morning and to encourage him in his task he gave him two guldens and an order on the butler for as much punch as he could dri

if they are ashamed of them. The only persons in the reception room besides the old man, were Madame Langai and Mr. John. Henrietta, still an invalid, had been allowed to take a stroll to the woods near the town in order to visit her favourite flowers once more and

Turkish wars against his former compatriots, his exploits winning for him the estate of Hidvár and the title of baron. His son again was a miser of the first water who could be enticed neither to court nor into the houses of his neighbours. He was continually scraping money together and was not over particular in the choice of his scraper. By adroit chicanery he acquired possession of the gold mines of Verespatak, which he exploited with immense advantage, and

inancial department in

ter of a Polish countess at the court of Vienna. The wife of Baron Leonard's father was a wallachized Hungarian lady, whom he married for her wealth. It was not wonderful, therefore, if the noble baron possessed the q

ty, and a winebibber and gourmand to boot; (2) that he is as vain as an Indian prince who takes unto him a wife for the mere pomp and show of the thing; (3) that he is violent and brutal, sparing nobody in his sudden fits of passion and, as the documents testify, has frequently inflicted mortal injuries on those who have come in his way while he was in an ill-humour; (4) that he has an odd liking for rowdy adventures, which do not reflect much credit upon him; and (5) that, according to the whispers of those nearest to him there is a strange mystery pervading his whole life, inasmuch as mysterious disappearances, which nobody can make head or tail of, occupy an incalculable number of his days and weeks which remain unaccounted for, and make a pretty considerable

er," said she. Of course these were the very pas

acket of papers from underneath the cushio

now, perhaps, while we run through the exhibits and schedules, perhaps you'll be

ere the Latin documents discov

he looked through the fatal Latin manuscripts. He kept shaking his head and twisting his moustache right and left, fidgeted in his armchair, and the beads of perspiration which stood out on his forehead gave him enough to

e too seemed to be in an extreme state of agitation. During the course of her reading, she ha

he various mutations of expression in the faces of the readers, which certain

n, he remarked in a soft gentle voice: "Well,

up his mind once for all, replied instantly: "I would not allow a decent c

Mr. Lawyer?" enquired the o

oice full of emotion: "I would advise that the young lad

egarded him wit

ll that is in

hat is in those

the next moment, to find them all written in Latin. She perceived that they were Koloman's

nslation of them besides. Then, you think, Mr. Lawyer, it will be as well to marry Henrietta to the baron, eh? Very well! Let me add that on the day w

e had never been so badly worsted in his professional capacity. Madame Langai woul

t is the cause of this wondrous change?" she cried

d replied: "They contain secrets the discovery whereof will be a g

nnection with Hen

aring thereupon, and,

" sighed Ma

de the house he walked for a long time up and down his consulting room as if he were trying to find a beginning for a business he would very much have liked

ever forget. There was ardent passion in every feature and the large flaming black eyes, whic

in now?" asked Mr. Sipos in a tone of friendly fa

im, there's nothing

ve been working again, I see. You

to distract

ung men? Why don't you frequent the coffee-houses and go to a dance occasiona

e, you are very kind, but you wor

your poor father confided you to my care on his deat

uardian's hand he pressed it, murmuring in a scarcely aud

ue! You have not watched over my son as a father should! You have lightly left him to himself. He was in danger and you were unaware of it. He hovered on the edge

look of stupefaction at his chief. Then the old man approached him, and took him by the

on't deny it, never think of taking refuge behind any false excuse, for your name is Szilard,[3] and cowardice does not become the bearer of such a name!' You understood him. You acted as he would have had you act. And now I also would remind you once more that you were christened Szilard and I ask you therefo

trong

loved: Ego te in aeternum amabo! One must admit that that was a great and noble sacrifice. Every day you corresponded with each other. Before school time the girl dictated his lessons to her young brother, beginning with the usual scholastic flowers of rhetoric but ending in the passionate voice of love, and after school was over, you, in your turn dictated a similar lesson for the lad to carry back with him. Naturally, this lesson book he never took to school with him; you kept the other here, the genuine one which he had to show to his masters. And this ingenious smuggling was carried on beneath the very eyes of the family without their perceiving it. Yet at last it was discovered. This very day, only an hour ago, the old head of the family placed these papers in my hands that I might read them, informing me at the same time that he had already read a translation of them. Terrible were the things I discovered in these papers. The appearance of a rich and noble suitor who, according to the notions of the world, was just made for the girl, frustrated all your plans of waiting patiently for better times. The family forced this union upon the girl. You, in your despair, racked your brain as to what you should do. At first you resolved upon an elopement, but the redoubled vigilance with which every step