66 BLACK DIAMONDS

faints. Truly, ^at the time this history

was

written, in our

good

^{land of} Hungary, ^this very garment played a serious part, since it wasthe shibboleth

and

visible sign of_fidelityto the governingpowers,

and

ofsubmissionto the mediators; ⁱⁿ truth, ever since those days ^the "leg of the boot^" has been worn. So it

came

to pass ^that Mrs.Liese wore this thing, the only one of the kind to be seen inthe castle. Liese, also,

was

allowedto drink wine,

and

to

smoke

_tobacco, and, needless ^to say, she did both.

Fraulein Emerenzia, the countess's companion, was, sotospeak, the exact counterpart^of her noble mistress.

The

countess

was

^tall

and

slender; she

had

a white_skin, her features were _sharp, her nose almost transparent, her _lips, scarlet in color, were shaped ^{like a}

bow

_; her cadaverous form bent forward; her _eyelids fell over her lack-lustre eyes, her face appeared ^to have two sides which didn't belong ^to one _another, each halfhaving a totally different expression; even the wrinkles didn't correspond. She wore her hair as it

was worn

in the days ^of her youth, as ^it was

worn when

Caroline Pia

was

married,

and

as it is possible^{it will}be

worn

_again.

Her hands

were_fine, transparent; they were _{not strong}

enough

^{to cut the leaves of a}

book

with a paper-knife.

Her

whole being

was

nerveless

and

sensitive.

At

the slightestnoise shewouldshriek,beseizedwitha cramp, or go ^{off in} hysterics.

She had

certain antipathies ^to beasts, flowers, air, food, motion,

and

emotion.

At

the sight ofa catshewas ready^{to faint; if}she

saw

a flesh-colored flower her blood grew ^{excited. Silver} gave everything an _{unpleasant taste,} so her spoons were ^all of gold. ^Ifany

women

^crossed_{their legs} she sent

them

out ^of the room. If the spoons, knives, or forks were by^{accident laid crosswise} on the _table, shewould not

OJ

sit

down

;

and

^if shewere to see velvet

on

_any of her attendants she

was

thrown into a nervous _attack, from the bare ideathatperhaps ^her

hand

_might

come

in con-tact with this electric

and

antipathetic substance.

Fortunately ^forherhousehold her nervous fearskept her quiet at night. She locked

and

double-locked the doorof herroom,

and

never

opened

^ituntilthe

morning came

_no, not ifthe house were burningover her head.

Fraulein Emerenzia_{was, as}

we

have before _said, the counterpart ^of her_mistress,in so farthat she affected a close imitation of her ways, ^{for in} her appearance she

was

a direct contrast,

Emerenzia

_{being a round, short,}

fat

woman,

^{with a full} face, the skin of which

was

so tightly stretched that it

was

almost as white as the countess's; she

had

^a snub _nose, which in secret

was

addicted to the vice of snuff-taking.

Her

dress

and

her

manner

of doing^{her hair}were identicalwith the count-ess'sfashion in each, only that the ^stiff-set clothes

had

on her small

body

^a

humorous

expression.

She

affected to be as nerveless as the countess; her

hands

were as

weak

they could notbreak a chicken bone.

Her

_eyes were as sensitive to _light, her antipathieswere as nu-merous,

and

she

was

as prone ^{to faints}

and

_hysterics as her patroness. In this direction, indeed, she went fur-ther.

So

soon as sheobserved that there

was

_{any cause}

for emotional _display, she set

up

trembling

and

scream-ing,

and

_{so got the} start of the countess,

and

_generally

managed

^{to sob for a minute} longer; and

when

Theu-delinde fell fainting

upon

^{one sofa} Emerenzia dropped

lifeless

upon

^another; likewise, she took_longer

coming

to than did hermistress.

At

_night Emerenzia _slept pro-foundly.

Her room was

only separatedfrom that of the countessby^anante-chamber, butTheudelinde might^tear

down

^allthe bells in thecastlewithout waking ^her

com-68 BLACK

DIAMONDS

panion,

who

maintained that her sleepwas a species ^of nervous trance.

One man

_only

was

ever allowed entrance into the Castle of Bondavara.

What do we

_{say? no man,}

no

masciilinum.

The

_language of

dogma

^{has defined that}

the_priestisneutrius_generis, is

more and

lessthan abeing ofthe malesex_; bodilyhe canbe no man's _father,

spir-itually he is father of thousands.

No

one need think hewill here read any calumnies against the priesthood.

The

_pastor

Mahok

was _{a brave,} honest

man

; he said

mass

_{devoutly, baptized,} married, buried

when

called upon, would _get

up

^{in the middle of}the night ^to attend the death-bedof a parishioner,

and

would nevergrumble

at the sacristan for waking

him

out of his first sleep.

The

_pastorwrote

no

articlesinthe Church News,^neither did he ever read one. If he wanted a newspaper he borrowed from the steward the _dailypaper.

When

his clerkcollected Peter'spence, Pastor

Mahok

sentitwith an additional gulden ^or two to the office of the chief priest^; but thisdid not prevent

him

_sitting

down

in the evening ^to play^"tarok^" with the Lutheran _pastor

and

the infidel steward.

He

held to having^a

good

^cellar; he had awhole _familyof beesin his garden,

and

was a successful cultivator of fruit. In _politics he

was

a

loy-alist, and confessed he belonged ^{to the} middle _party, which in the country

means

_just this,and no _more,^"

We

rote forthe tobacco monopoly, ^but

we smoke

_virgin

to-bacco because ^it is

good and we

^{have it."}

From

^this account_everyonewill understandthat dur-ing the course of this narrative this excellent gentleman

will offend no one.

We

would, in fact, have_nothingto say ^to

him

were it not that he

came

_{every day,}

punctu-allyat eleven o'clock, to

Bondavara

Castle to hear the countess's confession,

and

that done, he remained to

69 dinner,

and

in both directions he _honestly earned his small honorarium.

There

was _{a general} airof satisfac-tion in his whole appearance, ^{in his} double chin, in his fresh color, ⁱⁿ hisround, shining ^face.

To-day

the excellent

man

was _punctual.

The

count-ess, however,

was

not. Just as eleven o'clock _struck, the _spiritual

man knocked

at the door of the sitting-room.

Only

^{the voice of} Emerenzia answered, ^"

Come

in!"

The

smile ofgreeting on the countenance of the vis-itor wasreflected on that of thecompanion. ^It

was

the meeting^oftwo full moons.

"The

countess is still locked in her room,"

Emeren-zia said in a whisper, ^{as if afraid that} her voice could penetrate ^intothe third room.

The

pastor expressed by^a

movement

of his

hand and

an elevation of his eyebrows ^that the sleep ^of the _just

was

not to bedisturbed.

The _good man

was not aware that it

was

the toilette ofthe_{just that}

was

then in prog-ress.

These

_mysterieswere conducted by^thecountess

in private.

No

one, not even a faithful maid, was ad-mitted until Theudelinde was _clothed, and for this rea-son hergarments were

made

^to closein front.

The

_priest

made

use of this unexpected delay ^to search in the pocket ^{of his coat,} and to

draw

from thence ^r_ mysterious something, which,^afterfirst casting a lookround the room, ^to

make

sure

no

one was spying on _him, he _pressed into the fat

hand

of the countess's companion,

who

_hastily concealed this surreptitious something ^{in the} depths ^{of the} pocket ^{of her} dress, ex-pressing her gratitude by ^a friendly nod, which _the pas-torreturned by ^acourteous

movement

which _expressed,

"

No

thanks are necessary ^for so small a service."

Whereupon

Kmerenzia, turning away, half-shyly

drew

In document BLACK DIAMONDS (Pldal 78-82)