CHAPTER XVIII.
Raby could hardly bear the delay in getting home. When the open verdictwas pronounced, a coach was already at the door of the Assembly House,to bear him on his way: he threw himself into it, while the sparks flewunder the swift hoofs of his horses.
Szent-Endre was not, after all, the other side of the world, but thedistance seemed endless. On the way, he racked his brains as to how hewould find Fruzsinka. Yet he could not have possibly dreamed of what hisactual home-coming would be.
As he sprang from the vehicle, to knock at his house-door, he found thesummons of the court nailed under the knocker, with all themisdemeanours and crimes whereof he had been falsely accused before thetribunal, set forth at length. As is well known, these kind of summonseswere fixed to the house-door, were there no means of presenting them tothe person cited.
Rage drove every other thought from Raby's mind when he found thisdisgraceful document fluttering over his door. He tore it downindignantly, and beat with hand and foot at the entrance to gainadmission.
Poor Boske, the maid-servant, at last opened it, looking white andfrightened. "Why had they allowed this thing to be fastened to thedoor," he inquired angrily.
"I humbly beg pardon," stammered the girl, "the gentleman who brought itnailed it there with a hammer, and said if I tore it down I should behanged."
"Why did your mistress not do it?"
"The gracious lady-mistress?"
"Yes, my wife, where is she then?"
"Ah, my dear kind master, how shall I tell you? Please don't kill me forit! The gracious lady-mistress has left home."
"Stuff and nonsense! She has only probably gone to pay a visit."
"Ah, no indeed, she has not done that, she has, oh how shall I say it,run away. The very day the gracious master went, the lady-mistress wrotea letter and gave it to the gipsy Csicsa to carry. She did not wait foran answer, but packed up, called a coach, loaded it with her luggage,and drove off without saying a word about the dinner."
"Perhaps she has gone to her uncle's at the prefecture?"
"No, indeed, she went in the other direction; I watched her from thestreet-door down the road, as far as I could see."
Raby went into the parlour. The girl had spoken the truth, that wasevident. All the chests stood open; Fruzsinka had packed up all her ownbelongings when she went; she had not even left a single souvenirbehind.
Raby was completely nonplussed; it was indeed a horrible situation for aman who hastens home on the wings of love to find his house destitute ofall that made it home for him. He could think of nothing better than toseek out his uncle, the old postmaster, from whom, since his marriage,he had been somewhat estranged.
Raby entered the old man's room without speaking a word, where he satdown and stretched out his legs in gloomy silence. He shrewdly suspectedthat his host knew what had happened, and why he was there. How shouldhe not, considering everyone in Szent-Endre knew by this time. The oldgentleman shrugged first one, and then the other shoulder expressively,whilst he coughed and cleared his throat in visible embarrassment.
"H'm, h'm!" he said, significantly, "these fashionable ladies have notmuch feeling. Besides, you can never take them seriously. Therefore youmust not let the grass grow under your feet."
"If I did but know where she has gone to?" sighed Raby.
"Now just wait! I fancy I can help you to find out. For two days past aletter has been lying here addressed to your wife. There--take it andread it." And he handed Raby a sealed missive.
"I, how can I open a letter which is directed to my wife?" he askedanxiously.
"Yes, indeed, why not? Are not man and wife according to the Hungarianlaw one flesh? A letter addressed for the one can legally be opened bythe other, and I would do it, if I incurred the galleys for it, myfriend, if I were in your place. Just read it, and I will be theguarantee that I delivered it into your hands."
Raby opened the note with trembling fingers.
It was in the handwriting of the judge, Petray, and though short, wasquite intelligible.
"My darling Fruzsinka,
"From your own letter I see that you find it impossible to put up with your tyrant any longer. I thought as much long since. You do quite right in leaving him, and the sooner you get away from him the better; the man will come to no good. My house, as you know, will ever be a safe asylum for you. I await you with open arms.
"Your devoted friend,
"PETRAY."
Raby's eyes were no longer glazed and staring as heretofore; they shotsparks now.
"Read it, my friend," he said, as he handed it to Mr. Leanyfalvy.
"Well, at any rate, now you know where you are."
"Know it, indeed I do," answered Raby, as he grimly folded up the note,and placed it in his coat pocket.
"And pray what do you mean to do?"
"First, I would have a four-horse coach."
"You shall have it sure enough. And then----?"
"Then I'll go home and fetch my pistols and sword; look for a second,and then--either he or I are dead men."
"That's it! It's the only way. Only see to it that you think it outaccurately. Suppose your opponent wants to fight with swords? Perhapshe's an out-and-out swordsman."
"What does that matter? The sword will satisfy equally the duellingregulations, and will merely prove which of us can fence the better."
"Good! But take this much warning. The judge is a very cunning man; youwill have to be on your guard. Be careful not to be the first to drawthe sword, else he'll be hanging round your neck an attainder inpursuance of an antiquated law which rules that 'he who first draws thesword shall be held to incur blood-guiltiness.'"
"Many thanks, I'll remember your good advice."
"Ah! if you had always done so! Yet I am right glad that you don't lookaskance at me any longer. You are another man since you made up yourmind to fight! How a wife demoralises a man to be sure! There is nothingwanting now, except a sword and a pair of pistols. You need not go homefor those. I have a rare old blade which was used at the storming ofBuda, and will cut through iron itself; it is worth a good deal morethan your parade-sword. And here are my pistols, each is loaded withthree bullets; if you understand what shooting straight means, you cankill three enemies at once. So good luck, my young friend, I am gladyou are going."
The old gentleman embraced his nephew as if he were going to face theenemy, and had his best horses put in for him, and they brought Raby tothe judge's house in less than an hour.
The uninvited guest just caught the judge going out.
"Come back with me to the house," said his visitor, "I want to have aword with you."
Petray guessed from the speaker's tone that it was on no friendlybusiness that he had come, though he affected not to perceive it, andtreated Raby with his accustomed familiarity.
When they had come into Petray's parlour, Raby drew the letter out ofhis pocket and held it before his host's face.
"Do you recognise this writing?"
Petray drew himself up.
"What presumption is this, pray? To open a letter directed to someoneelse, it is unheard of!"
"It is perfectly legal," said Raby. "Your protest is useless. In theeyes of the law, a letter written to my wife is a letter written to me."
"It is, I say, a great piece of presumption, to attack a man like thisin his own house."
"You need not make such a noise! You may see I carry pistols in mybelt." Then adopting a more familiar tone, Raby added, "It comes tothis, either you take one of these two pistols, and we fire according tothe prescribed rules, or if you refuse me the satisfaction of a man ofhonour, I shoot you dead without further ado, as I would a wolf whoattacks me on the highway."
The cowardly bully grew pale with fear. To look at him, you would havedeemed him a powerful foe to be reckoned with, but he was a very cowardat heart, like the braggart that he was.
"All right, I'm not afraid of you, or o
f anybody else, for that matter.But all this is idle talk! A gentleman does not fight with pistols. Thatkind of duel exacts no skill. A schoolboy can fire off a pistol. I onlyfight with swords; so with my sword I am at your service to have it outin proper fashion. Out with yours, and we'll see who is the best man ofthe two."
"Very well, with swords, so be it," said Raby quietly, replacing hispistols again in his belt.
"And now you had better make your will, for you don't leave this placealive."
"That our weapons will decide. I have nothing further to say," answeredRaby.
"So, you will venture to draw your sword on me, will you, you sillyfellow?"
"With you, or after you. I would not have it said that I drew my swordon an unarmed man," answered his antagonist.
"Don't provoke me, Raby! I tell you we will have it out here."
"Well, draw then!"
Petray thus urged, endeavoured to draw his sword in earnest from hisbelt, but that otherwise excellent weapon had never been used since thelast Prussian war, and stuck so fast in its sheath that the mostpowerful tugs quite failed to move it.
Come out it would not. Mr. Petray pulled and tugged to no avail; theblade would not yield an inch.
"Good heavens," cried Raby impatiently, "hand it over to me, I will makeit come out."
And hereupon the two opponents pulled away with might and main at therefractory weapon; Raby seizing the sheath, and Petray the handle,indulged in a very tug-of-war, but to no purpose; the sword stuck whereit was, and did not budge, while the two adversaries were bathed inperspiration with their unavailing efforts.
Had anyone ever seen such an absurd struggle?
Petray was foaming with rage.
"Deuce take the thing! If you want to come to grips, let's fight it outwith our fists! There I can be sure of my resources. I'll smash you up,I promise you, so there won't be anything left of you."
"All right," retorted Raby, and lifting up the sleeve of his dolman, heput himself into a boxer's attitude, and struck Petray two ringing blowswith his bare muscular arm, that sent his opponent fairly reeling fromsheer astonishment.
Now the judge set great store by his appearance. He therefore reflectedthat by such methods as these, his enraged antagonist might end inbreaking his nose, or knocking out his teeth, and these were bothcontingencies to be avoided.
"Ah, leave me in peace," he cried piteously. "I am no boxer, I am ajudge, a man of the law. If you have anything to bring against me, letit be at the tribunal, I'll meet you there fast enough. But I willneither fence, nor shoot, nor box on your wife's account. If you think Iam the first whom your wife has fooled, I am not, by a long way. If youwant to fight, look up Captain Lievenkopp--he lives out yonder atZsambek. You have a bigger score to settle with him than with me, if youdid but know it. He's ready for either swords or pistols. As judge, it'smy duty to hinder a fight, not to promote it by myself taking part inone. Go to the tribunal, and I'll give you satisfaction there fastenough."
He spoke rapidly, but Raby did not wait to hear the end. He clapped hishat on, and jumped into his coach, and cried to the driver to drive toZsambek.