176 BLACK DIAMONDS

i^

me

_only I sent for you," she ^{said, in} a tone of gentle reproach.

"

Into the presence ^of a queen one doesn't intrude_;

\ve wait tobe

summoned."

"Don't _try and flatter

me

; if you do ^{like the others}

I shall treat

you

^{as I do} them, and not speak one

word

to you. ^I

much

_{prefer your} way, although you ^are

al-ways

offendingme."

"

I do not

remember

to haveever offended you."

"

Because you do nothing ^else.

You know

thatvery well."

It was

now

their turn_; they joined the waltzers,

and no

one would have guessed ^{that it}

was

fifteen years since Ivan

had

danced.

Meantime, ^{in the card}

-room

there

was some

_gossip over this

new whim

ofthe

young

^countess.

Count Ed-mund,

^{as he shuffled the cards, declared his cousin}

An-gelawas bewitched about ^{this Ritter} Magnet.

"

Ah,^{is thatso?" cried the} Marquis ^Salista.

"

Don't you ^believe him," interrupted

Count

Stefan.

"

I

know

our _prettyAngela; she is as full of mischief as a kitten.

As

soon as she remarks that a

man

has a hobby-horse,she

makes him

ride _it,puts ^itthrough^{all its} paces,caracoling, leaping,hauteecole. This isher trick:

once she

knows

the subjectwhich interests a man, ^she talks of it with such an earnest _face, such sympathetic eyes; and

when

he has left her,

charmed

at her

intelli-gence, her sweetness, she^ridiculesthe unfortunatedevil.

This is the

way

^{she treated} poor Sondersheim, a very brave

young

^fellow,

who

has _only one_fault, thathe wor-ships Angela, and she abhors him. She _laughs at ev-erybody."

"

That

is true_; but she _praises Ivan, notto his face, but behind hisback tome, and ^notbecause he is a

man

t/8 feLACK

DIAMONDS

of science, a _geologist, but because he is such a brave man."

"

That

isanother^ofher tricks; the artful puss

knows

right well thatthe _praise which

comes

at third-hand is

the sweetestof all flattery."

"_I take

good

^{carenot torepeat one}

word

to Ivan."

"

There

_you

show him

real friendship," remarked Sa-lista,laughing.

In the ball-room the dancers

had

returned to their places.

"

You

_{were ready} ^toleave Pesth,"Angela was saying, with a charming pout.

"

You

needn't

deny

^it; the abbe' told me."

"

Since then circumstances have detained

me

_longer

than I expected," returned Ivan, coolly.

"

Have

_yougot a family^at

home

?"

"

I have noone _belonging to

me

in the world."

"

And why

have you ^not?"

This

was

a searching question.

"

Perhaps you already

know

what

my

^{business is. I}

have a _colliery; I

work

with the miners, and spend

my

day underground."

"

Ah, ^that explains everything," ^said Angela, regard-ing

him

with tender sympathy. ^"

Now

^I understand that you ^are indeed _right. It would be terrible to

con-demn

a

woman

to the _sufferingsa miner's wife must en-dure.

What

can be

more

terrible than to take leave of her

husband

each morning, not

knowing

^whether they will ever meet _again; to

know

he is in the depths ^of the earth while she breathesthe freshair ofheaven_; to fancy her beloved is perhaps ^buried alive,

and

she can-not hearhis criesfor help; thateven ^if it isnot_so, that he is surrounded by ^a deadlyatmosphere, ^{that it} only needs _{a spark} to

become

a hell, in whichher _darling

179 would be lost to her forever? I can understand

how

a

woman's

heartwould break under such a _daily agony^; ev2n to her child she would _say, ^'

Do

not run so _fast, else a stone

may

^{fall on} your ^father's head

and

^kill

him.'^" Then, ^{with a}sudden change ^of expression, An-gela turned _{angrily to} Ivan. ^"But

why

do you stay

down

in the

mine

likea

common

miner?"

"Because it is

my

^{element, asthe}battle-fieldisthat of the _soldier, the sea of the _sailor, the desert of the trav-eller. It is with

me

as it is with

them

_{a passion.} I love the mysteriousdarknessoftheworld underground."

The warmth

with which Ivan spoke ^these words kindled an answering enthusiasm ^{in his listener.}

"

Every passion ^is absorbing," she _said, ^"_especially the passion ^for creation and for destruction. I under-stand

how

a

woman

would follow a

man

she _loved, not only^to the _field,but into the battle _itself, although the art of war has

now become

a very prosaic

and

second-class affair,

and

haslost every trace of idealism. I con-fess, however, ^the heroismof the miner isto

me

incom-prehensible.

A man who

occupies himself with dead, cold stones is to

me

like that Prince Badrul-Buder in the'Arabian _Nights,'

who

was turned into a _stone,

and whose

wife preferred a _living slave to her marble hus-band. I preferthose

who

_penetrate to

unknown

_regions

of the globe,

and

I could envy ^{the wife of Sir}

Samuel

Baker,

who

travelled

by

^{his side all} through the deserts of South _{Africa, holding} in one

hand

a _pistol, while the other

hand was

_clasped ⁱⁿ that of her husband. To-gether theybore the burningheat,together repulsed the savage ^{wild beasts.}

Hand

in

hand

_{they appeared} be-fore the

King

^ofMorocco, and what ^the

arm

ofthe

hus-band

failed to procure was _given to the

charms

of the wife. I can place myselfⁱⁿ the _position of this

woman.

l8o BLACK

DIAMONDS

who, ^alone and deserted in the

Mangave

wood, ^sat through ^the livelongnight with theheadofthe

wounded

travelleron her _lap and aloaded _pistolbeside her.

To

heal his

wounds

she ventured into the

woods and

found herbs; for his food she contrived to cook in the desert.

Shedid this for the only

man

she_loved,

whose

_onlylove she is

and

has ever been.

Her name

is

known and

revered in every place where Europeans have pene-trated."

Again theyhad_{to join} thecircleofdancers,

and when

they returned ^{to their}place Angela

resumed

the conver-sation:

"What

^I _{said just}

now

was sheernonsense; ^thewhole thingwas the outcome ofdespicable vanity.

A

misera-ble idea to travel through countries where a

woman

is

hardly ^to be distinguished from a beast,

and

that be-cause shewalks _upright; wherethe ideal ofbeauty^{is to} have the upperlip bored into a big ^hole, so that

when

laughing ^the nose is visible ridiculous!

And

then to be proud because she was the most beautiful

woman,

andher

husband

_perforce was faithful to her.

A

_great

thing, indeed, ^to be the queen ^of beauty

amid

mon-sters ofugliness^! No, no; I

know

of something ^better, far bolder.

A _woman,

Fraulein _Christian, has accom-plished a journey alone on horseback all across the steppes ^{of Asia.}

What

^if a

man

anda

woman

had the courage ^to penetrate through the Polenia Canal to the

warm

seas discovered

by Kane

? or if a

man and

a

woman had

the courage ^{to cast}anchor inthe regions ^of the north _pole, and to the inhabitants of that magnetic

kingdom

boldly say,

*

Compare

yourselves with us^;

we

are handsomer, stronger,

more

_{faithful, happier} than you ^are

'

?

That

would be atriumph^;

and

such a jour-ney ^I

would

_willingly undertake."

As

she said these words, Angela's eyes

gleamed upon

^{Ivan with the} splendor ^of the aurora borealis.

Ivan decided within himself upon ^asudden experiment.

"

Countess, ^ifyou have the passion or ^{desire tovisit} strange worlds,

and

to excite the benighted inhabitants to a proper emulation ^for somethingbetter, truer,

more

intellectual than that they have hitherto known, ^{if this}

is reallyyour ^laudable wish, ^Ican

recommend

to your notice a country equally ⁱⁿ need ofsuch enlightenment,

and

_infinitely ^{nearer to} _you."

-What

is it?"

"_It

is Hungary."

"But are

we

notin

Hungary

already?"

"

Countess, you ^{are in it, but not of it.}

You

are merely visiting^us.

You

do not

know

whatand

who we

are.

You

need notgo ^{so faras}the poles orAbyssinia^; here is a

new

world open ^to you, a large ^field where your passion ^for creating

and

improving can be easily gratified."

Angela

opened

^her fan,

and

with an air of

indiffer-ence fanned her whitebosom.

"

What

can

/do?

I

am

not

my ^own

mistress."

''

You

are not your

own

_{mistress, and,} nevertheless, you^rule."

"Over whom?"

"

Countess, ^itwould _only need one

word

_{from you} to bring the green palace

and

all it containsfromViennato Pesth.

The

_societyhere requires ^that leading person-ality which

now

in

Vienna

is lost

among

the crowd,

whose

existence is spent ⁱⁿ aimless inaction. Pesth needs the _prince, your grandfather.

He

adores you.

One word

from you wouldgive ^toour life a

new

_being;

one

word

_{from you}

and

Prince

Theobald

would reside here."

In document BLACK DIAMONDS (Pldal 188-194)