Moreover, no one except Fruzsinka knew he had gone to Vienna.
There he showed himself nowhere. He knew that the Emperor was accustomed to walk every morning in the so-called "meadow garden," where, clad in a simple short coat and plain hat, he was often taken for one of his own equerries. There Ráby could speak to him, and tell him how matters stood in Hungary.
The Kaiser commended what Ráby had already done and encouraged him to go on and prosper. He gave him every aid in his power to help him, including a special pass, wherein all to whom he showed it, were adjured to respect the bearer's person. But he advised Ráby only to show this letter in a case of extreme necessity, and begged him not to tell anyone of the interview he had just had.
Then Ráby hastened homewards, feeling he had ordered his affairs for the best.
On the return journey he arranged to reach Pesth in time to attend the meeting of the County Assembly.
First, he proceeded to the Assembly House to look out certain documents.
The first person he met was the pronotary, Tárhalmy.
Tárhalmy was more friendly, yet more gruff than ever. He called Ráby into his room, and when they were alone, exclaimed:
"You come at the right time, my friend, for we have already cited you as a 'runaway noble,' as the legal phrase has it."
"Cited me! What in the world for, I should like to know?"