A BRIDE OF THE PLAINS
by
BARONESS ORCZY
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By BARONESS ORCZY
A BRIDE OF THE PLAINS THE LAUGHING CAVALIER "UNTO CAESAR" EL DORADO MEADOWSWEET THE NOBLE ROGUE THE HEART OF A WOMAN PETTICOAT RULE
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY NEW YORK
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A BRIDE OF THE PLAINS
by
BARONESS ORCZY
Author of "The Laughing Cavalier," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "El Dorado," "Meadowsweet," Etc., Etc.
New York George H. Doran Company
Copyright, 1915, by George H. Doran Company
TO THE MEMORY OF LOUIS KOSSUTH
What would you have said now--O patriot and selfless hero--had you lived to see the country which you loved so well, for whose liberty and national dignity you fought with such unswerving devotion--what would you say, could you see her now--tied to Austria's chariot wheel, the catspaw and the tool of that Teutonic race which you abhorred? Thank God you were spared the sight which surely would have broken your heart! You never lived to see your country free. Alas! no man for many generations to come will see that now. The Magyar peasant lad--upon the vast, mysterious plains of his native soil--will alone continue to dream of national liberty, of religious and political freedom, and vaguely hope that some day another Louis Kossuth will arise again and restore to him and to his race that sense of dignity, of justice and of right which the Teuton has striven for centuries to crush.
EMMUSKA ORCZY.
Snowfield, Bearsted, Kent.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. "GOD BLESS THEM ALL! THEY ARE GOOD LADS." 9 II. "MONEY WON'T BUY EVERYTHING." 16 III. "YOU WILL WAIT FOR ME." 32 IV. "NOW THAT HE IS DEAD." 43 V. "LOVE WILL FOLLOW." 56 VI. "I DON'T WISH TO MARRY; NOT YET." 64 VII. "THEY ARE JEWS AND WE ARE HUNGARIANS." 73 VIII. "I PUT THE BUNDA AWAY SOMEWHERE." 84 IX. "THEN, AS NOW, MAY GOD PROTECT YOU." 93 X. "THE BEST WAY OF ALL." 101 XI. "AFTER THAT, HAPPINESS WILL BEGIN." 106 XII. "IT IS TOO LATE." 115 XIII. "HE MUST MAKE YOU HAPPY." 125 XIV. "IT IS TRUE." 133 XV. "THAT IS FAIR, I THINK." 137 XVI. "THE WATERS OF THE MAROS FLOW SLUGGISHLY." 143 XVII. "I AM HERE TO SEE THAT YOU BE KIND TO HER." 149 XVIII. "I MUST PUNISH HER." 162 XIX. "NOW GO AND FETCH THE KEY." 174 XX. "YOU HAPPEN TO BE OF MY RACE AND OF MY BLOOD." 186 XXI. "JEALOUS, LIKE A MADMAN." 199 XXII. "I GO WHERE I SHALL BE MORE WELCOME." 211 XXIII. "ON THE EVE OF ONE'S WEDDING DAY TOO." 226 XXIV. "IF YOU LOVED ME." 232 XXV. "IN ANY CASE ELSA IS NOT FOR YOU." 237 XXVI. "WHAT HAD ANDOR DONE?" 251 XXVII. "THE SHADOW THAT FELL FROM THE TALL SUNFLOWERS." 257 XXVIII. "WE SHALL HEAR OF ANOTHER TRAGEDY BY AND BY." 265 XXIX. "SOME DAY." 272 XXX. "KYRIE ELEISON." 282 XXXI. "WHAT ABOUT ME?" 291 XXXII. "THE LAND BEYOND THE SUNSET." 304
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: A Bride of the Plains by Orczy
- 2: No sign of human life around that distant tanya
- 3: The lads of Marosfalva and of Fekete
- 4: And we all know that Jeno now is little better than an idiot
- 5: So the big barn that belongs to Ignacz Goldstein
- 6: Marosfalva is the rallying point
- 7: For so must the csardas be danced
- 8: No wonder that Andor feels this dance
- 9: Lakatos Pal cannot live for ever
- 10: Eros Bela was rich and influential
- 11: Since that last csardas had begun
- 12: The Magyar blood is not in her
- 13: The gipsies have struck up a melancholy Magyar folksong
- 14: And joined Andor outside the barn
- 15: Andor reiterated over and over again
- 16: Unseeing gaze on this railway train
- 17: Andor asks for the twentieth time
- 18: Tell your driver to pull up at the village of Marosfalva
- 19: There are groups of gay sunflowers and of dull green hemp
- 20: One from Fekete and two from Kender
- 21: A mightily rich man was Hoher Aladar
- 22: But now she followed Ilona into the best bedroom
- 23: We'll just pay our respects to Ilona and Aladar
- 24: Don't let us quarrel about Andor
- 25: Disorderly ways of the Kapus household
- 26: She was always ready to quarrel with Bela
- 27: If it had not been for that accursed Andor
- 28: Elsa had loved Lakatos Andor the handsome
- 29: And young Barna court another girl
- 30: Foremost among these was Eros Bela
- 31: But Lakatos Andor had died in the hospital of Slovnitza
- 32: Pater Bonifacius sighed in bitter disappointment
- 33: Exclaimed Irma with obvious incredulity
- 34: She saw more of Eros Bela than she did of anyone else
- 35: But I tell you that she is jealous of Klara Goldstein
- 36: Klara Goldstein belongs to this village
- 37: But Klara Goldstein is my friend
- 38: Then he nodded to Irma and was gone
- 39: And the words which Andor had whispered above all
- 40: I did hear something of what Mariska said
- 41: And I put the bunda away somewhere
- 42: But Pater Bonifacius is coming in to see me after vespers
- 43: She tackled the second pocket of the shabby bunda
- 44: Tekintetes Kapus Elsa kisasszonynak
- 45: So every filler which I earn I can save
- 46: And if Andor did come back now
- 47: That unknown spot where Andor was
- 48: Why He chose to part you from Andor
- 49: Whispered Pater Bonifacius at last
- 50: Eros Bela had provided everything
- 51: Kapus Irma was a proud mother to day
- 52: When you fix the bunda round your father's shoulders
- 53: Irma at last sailed out of the door
- 54: Was speechless after that first cry of joy Elsa
- 55: Even though you never wrote to me
- 56: And it would have been hell but for thinking of you
- 57: For Elsa sat more huddled up in herself than before
- 58: Gradually his sobs were stilled
- 59: And mother always wished me to marry Bela
- 60: Looking so helpless and so pathetic
- 61: He has not worn his bunda for two years
- 62: I don't like his hanging round Klara
- 63: In honour of the finest son of Marosfalva
- 64: Andor was in the street with the rest of the village folk
- 65: Klara arrayed in fashionable town garments
- 66: Here's Irma neni trying to teach me something about girls
- 67: Andor cursed beneath his breath
- 68: Andor had never cared for it before
- 69: And Eros Bela had done the feast in style
- 70: The other side of Klara Goldstein
- 71: Klara won't come to our church
- 72: And Klara Goldstein turned to go
- 73: Said Klara over her shoulder to him
- 74: But already Andor was upon him
- 75: For no one would speak to Mariska
- 76: Were the bottles of wine and silvorium
- 77: But he had continued his attentions to Klara
- 78: With a significant nod to Klara
- 79: The fruit he bought near Kecskemet
- 80: Has that silly csardas on the brain
- 81: He belonged to the ancient family of Rakosy
- 82: He certainly did not bestow a single glance on Eros Bela who
- 83: Whether his flirtation with Klara
- 84: He goes to Kecskemet by the night train
- 85: For that old gossip Rezi to hear you
- 86: Hirsch is off to Fiume in half an hour
- 87: And Klara had no further thought for her jealous admirer
- 88: Klara had not seen this manoeuvre of his
- 89: Ignacz Goldstein had gone into the next room
- 90: Eros Bela would have stormed and cursed
- 91: Her senses strained to grasp the meaning
- 92: Between her father and this madman
- 93: At any rate for Ignacz was a hard man and a stern father
- 94: And without another look on Klara
- 95: But if it's anything to do with Bela
- 96: As in the case of Eros Bela on the eve of his wedding day
- 97: And he will waylay Count Feri when he comes
- 98: And as your father does mighty good business at Marosfalva
- 99: I can't help Eros Bela running after me
- 100: Frivolous way she blew a kiss to Andor
- 101: The csardas is not merely a dance
- 102: If he disapproved of the csardas
- 103: The csardas was brought to a lovely and whirling close
- 104: And I'd rather you did not dance another csardas to night
- 105: Everyone knew of Bela's aversion to the csardas
- 106: Kapus Irma turned to her daughter
- 107: Elsa knew all these soft whisperings
- 108: Bela had lighted a cigar when he left the barn
- 109: You preferred being obstinate and wilful toward me
- 110: Elsa made vigorous efforts to swallow her tears
- 111: Elsa stood for a moment quite still there in the dark
- 112: Elsa not as rich as you would be if you married Eros Bela
- 113: Then he turned and looked around him Klara was not there
- 114: Andor said nothing for the moment
- 115: Andor and I are going directly
- 116: While Elsa is near you I cannot imagine
- 117: He hated Andor with all his might
- 118: Who will be speeding off to Kecskemet
- 119: He was quite close to Andor now
- 120: Said Ignacz Goldstein fretfully
- 121: Surely Andor had not played her false
- 122: Anything must be better than this suspense
- 123: Crying and half inert with mental anguish and pain
- 124: Klara closing her eyes could almost picture him
- 125: Klara could hear the gipsy band
- 126: Lakatos Andor had been to the castle
- 127: Quite distinctly especially when she closed her eyes
- 128: A bride more prone to tears than to laughter
- 129: When Ignacz Goldstein comes home
- 130: Bela's brother had arrived in the meanwhile from Arad
- 131: A week went by after the funeral before Elsa saw Andor again
- 132: The same remorse about Bela gnawed again at her heart
- 133: Andor yet she whispered under her breath
- 134: Only now and then she would look up not at Andor
- 135: Since Andor was not entitled to it yet
- 136: Andor had thought the problem out
- 137: The sexton threw open the doors
- 138: Harsh voices singing the Litany
- 139: And now when Pater Bonifacius in his gentle
- 140: Andor talked fondly and foolishly
- 141: Klara now put her hands on her hips
- 142: Seeing that Klara did not reply immediately
- 143: She tried to come between you and Bela
- 144: And Andor no longer tried to force Klara to silence
- 145: I told Andor all about Count Feri and the key
- 146: Klara shrugged her shoulders and said more lightly Oh
- 147: But this would not have been kind to Andor
- 148: You knew that he meant to visit Klara
- 149: Then it should enfold her and Andor together
- 150: Andor could no longer see Elsa now