"Put that paper aside."
Teleki alone remained composed and instead of putting it aside spread it out the more.
"What are my lords doing?" asked Madame Apafi; she was pale and her bosom heaved.
"We are taking counsel," answered Teleki, firmly.
"You are taking counsel?" asked Anna, approaching nearer to the table.
"At the same time we would put to your Grace the question, who gave you the right to disturb us when we are making decisions about the most important affairs of the country?" continued Teleki, in a hard tone of voice.
"You are making decisions about the most important affairs of the country," replied Madame Apafi, slowly repeating Teleki's words, while she looked at him sharply; then suddenly she broke out in a resonant voice,—"and that over your wine cups! You consult about the fate of the country while the man at its head is intoxicated, so that you may bring all to confusion."
Teleki sprang from his seat and turned to the Prince.
"May it please your Majesty to dismiss us? Evidently a domestic scene is in progress."
"Anna," cried Apafi, red with shame and the glow of the wine, "leave this hall this instant. It is our order and from this day on for a week do not appear again before our eyes."