Neath the Hoof of the Tartar Part 3

"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 G.o.d'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 Nagyvarad (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 amus.e.m.e.nt, and you, my poor girl, have had to live buried in the woods, where there is nothing going on."

"The Hedervarys 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 n.o.ble 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 pa.s.sed 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 amus.e.m.e.nt 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 amus.e.m.e.nt--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 n.o.ble 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 Hedervary, 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 Hedervarys 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. Hedervary 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 t.i.tle, 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 b.u.mptiousness; 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. Hedervary'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. Hedervary 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 a.s.sign Hedervary'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 n.o.bles. (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 Wancsa has been inquiring whether you would be disposed to let your house in Pest to his Majesty."

"The King? Let it? Is Mr. Wancsa 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. Wancsa?" 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: