Beldi was anything but a quarrelsome man. Had he been in another frame of mind, he would simply have apologized for his mistake. But now he too was in a pugnacious mood, so, calmly measuring Banfi from head to foot, he replied with suppressed rage—
"Yes, Denis, I am a Szekler, as you say, and a tough one too; and if it came to a bout between us, and I fell uppermost, I'd give you such a squeeze that you'd never raise your head again in this world."
"Come, come! What's all this nonsense about?" cried the Prince, intervening. "I'm surprised at you, gentlemen! Inter pocula non sunt seria tractanda." And, with that, Apafi compelled the two magnates to shake hands with each other, and then passed on, thinking that the whole affair was a mere drunken brawl, and that he had put it right.
But it did not escape Teleki that, immediately after this scene, both the magnates quitted the room, and he learnt soon afterwards that they had suddenly left Fehervár, thus leaving the field clear for him.
Teleki and his satellites remained alone with the half-besotted Prince.
"Drink, gentlemen! drink! be merry!" cried Apafi. "Don't drop off one by one! Who last went out there?"
"Beldi!" cried several voices.
"Ah, I understand! The poor fellow has not seen his wife for a long time. Let him go. And who else has gone?"
"Banfi!"
"What? Banfi too? What's the meaning of that?"