Therewith he threw himself on his face upon the floor before them, and embracing their feet kissed the dust beneath them.
"Oh, my darlings! My loved ones."
CHAPTER XXI
THAT LETTER
What those who had so long waited, spoke and thought during that night cannot be written down. These are sacred matters, not to be exposed to the public gaze.
Lorand confessed all, and was pardoned for all.
And he was as happy in that pardon as a child who had been again received into favor.
Lorand indeed felt as if he were beginning his life now at the point where ten years before it had been interrupted, and as if all that happened during ten years had been merely a dream, of which only the heavy beard of manhood remained.
It was very late in the morning when he and Desiderius woke. Sleep had proved very pleasant for once.