"Thank you, my lord," replied Vamhidy coldly, "but I have already had my lunch."
His lunch, by the way, had consisted of a maize cake baked in the ashes.
"Then won't you allow your men to drink my health in a glass of wine, since they are actually on my domains?"
"My pandurs are not allowed to drink; they have to remain sober. They must not leave the mill without my leave and your lordship must not camp out here although the mill is your property. For just now I am 'verbiro,'[50] here with the right to open and close every door as I may think fit."
[50] A magistrate with the power of life and death in his hands.
"Then I shall know how to respect your authority. All the same, I do not withdraw my offer. My castle and every house and shanty on my estate is at your disposal and if you should not find me at home at Hidvár, as I have to be off early to-morrow morning to Szeb, my wife will be delighted to see you."
And with that he threw his gun across his shoulder and tripped away with well bred nonchalance across the field, and, calling to his party to follow him, disappeared in the depths of the forest from which he had just emerged.
And now it was evening and the heavens were full of stars and Szilard began to gaze at the stars and as he did so he forgot all about the official burdens that weighed so heavily upon his shoulders, all about Fatia Negra and the robbers. He fancied that his eyes encountered among the stars the eyes of "another" whom slumber and happiness had deserted just as they had deserted him.
How close to each other chance had brought them once more! He had only to accept her husband's invitation in order to meet her face to face. What would they not have to say to one another?