"Better still. If you want to act, act quickly. In such cases, either quickly or not at all; either courageously or never."
"There will be no lack of courage."
Topándy spoke of marriage, Lorand of a pistol.
"Well in a week's time I shall be able to give my blessing on your choice."
"Certainly."
Topándy did not wish to dive further into Lorand's secret. He suspected the young fellow was choosing between two girls, and did not imagine that he had already chosen a third:—the one with the down-turned torch.[69]
Lorand during the following days was as cheerful as a bridegroom during the week preceding his marriage—so cheerful!—as his father had been the evening before his death.
[69] The torch, which should have been held upright for the marriage festivities, would be held upside down for the festivities of death, just as the life would be reversed.
The last day but one came: May again, but not so chilly as ten years before. The air in the park was flower-perfumed, full of lark trills, and nightingale ditties.
Czipra was chasing butterflies on the lawn.