Tárhalmy's face became suddenly grave.
"I know well enough why you are here!"
(How could he know why he had come? wondered his guest.)
"Not at my house, but why you are in this country. And if you will permit me, I will tell you what I think about your mission."
"Oh pray do!" exclaimed Ráby.
"Well, my young friend, you know I have always loved you as my own son. I recognised all your capabilities, and always said 'that boy will some day do great things!' A better brought-up, better disposed youth than you were, with a higher sense of honour, could not be found. I would not hesitate to entrust you with untold millions—or an innocent maiden. But I warn you, if you persist in the way you have marked out for yourself, you will soon be rotting in one of our prisons; and I shall hear your chains clanking, without being able to stir a finger to set you free."
"And all that because I am a friend of the people?"
"Rather an enemy of the nation, say!"
"Are not the people and the nation one and the same?"
"No, not at all: the nation is the state. You idealists cannot see the wood for the trees; you cannot see the nation for the people. Only make the people believe that they fare better under a despotism than under a constitution, and you are the right side of the hedge."