"My dear Guardian,
"Very serious business makes me send to you. Come and see me. As your honoured wife is now engaged on a provincial tour, can't you come and dine with me to-day? We shall be all by ourselves.
"Bessy."
Was there ever an odder reason?—"As your honoured wife is now engaged on a provincial tour"! No doubt she found that out in the Fövárosi Lapok.[106] But the conclusion: "therefore you can come and dine with me to-day"! And finally: "We shall be all by ourselves"! If that wasn't a temptation, I don't know what is.
[106] News of the Capital, a popular newspaper of the period.
I began to walk up and down.
The maid waited to see if I was going to count how many paces it was from the window to the door. At last she grew importunate.
"Is there any answer, please? I have to go home and cook the dinner."
"Ah, yes, of course! Greet your mistress from me, and tell her that I'll come and see her in the forenoon to-morrow."