"Kucsuk Pasha left his son as a hostage in my stead."
"Worthy man! What useless sacrifices he is making for my sake. And my children?"
"They remain in the dungeon whither also I must return, if you will not accept the Sultan's offer."
"Have they taken away my girl Aranka also?" asked Béldi, with a heavy heart.
"Yes, they have taken her too, and if we are released we shall have no whither to go. They have taken everything of ours. The Bethlen property has become the prey of Farkas Bethlen; the Haromszeki estate is now in the hands of Clement Mikes, although it is not lawful to deprive a Székler of his lands, even for high-treason. Our castle at Bodola has been totally destroyed, our escutcheon has been torn to pieces, and your name has been recorded in the journals of the Diet as a traitor."
"Oh, ye men!" roared Béldi, shaking his chains in the bitterness of his anger; "if I were not Paul Béldi the wrath of God would descend upon your heads. But ah!—I love my country even if worms are gnawing it. Dry your eyes, my good wife! you see I am not weeping. What we suffer is the visitation of God upon us. I remain a Christian and a patriot. I leave my cause to God!"
"You will not accept the offer of the Sultan?" inquired Dame Béldi, approaching her husband with fear and despair in her eyes.
"Never!" replied Béldi, in a low voice.
The wife, with a loud scream, flung herself at the feet of her husband, and, seizing his knees in a convulsive embrace, begged and besought him: "You would send me back to my dungeon? You would separate me from you for ever? Never, never, not even in the hour of death, shall I see you again."
"Comfort yourself with the thought that you loved me, and were worthy of me, if you can suffer as I do and for the same reason."