"And yet it is causing me at the present moment all the tortures of hell. Believe me, my dear guardian, the loss of my inheritance seems to me a trifle beside the loss of Veronica."
Sztolarik was impressed by the apparent sincerity of Gyuri's sorrow.
"That's quite another thing," he said. "If that is how you feel I will stay here with you. Let us go and look for the girl ourselves, and find out what she thinks on the subject."
When they went out, they found great confusion reigning in the courtyard, but Mrs. Adamecz was loudest in her lamentations.
"I knew this would be the end of it. A legend should never be tampered with by a mortal's hand, or it will fall to pieces. Oh, our dear young lady! She was God's bride, and they wanted to make her the bride of a mortal, so God has taken her to Himself."
Sztolarik sprang toward her, and caught hold of her hand.
"What is that you say? Have you heard anything?"
"Gundros, the cowherd, has just told us that he saw our young lady this morning running straight toward the Bjela Voda, across the meadows, and her eyes were red, as though she had been crying. There is only one conclusion to be drawn from that."
A lot of women and children were gathered round the kitchen door, and one of them had also seen Veronica earlier than Gundros had.
"Did she look sad?" asked Gyuri.