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HUNGARIAN TALES. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE LETTRE DE CACHET. 
 
 Une nation fiere et g^nereuse ; I'appui de ses souverains— le fltau 
 de ses tyrans. — Voltaire. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT-STREET. 
 
 1829. 
 

 G(o 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY SAMUEL MANNING AND CO. 
 
 iONaON-HOUSfi YAUX), si, PAVli'St 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Hungarian nation, ancient and pic- 
 turesque, and peculiarly characterized as 
 it is, appears to be at present little 
 known, and perhaps still less cared for 
 in England. Our indifference is singu- 
 larly ungrateful ; for there is scarcely a 
 European country in which the Anglo- 
 mania rages more fiercely than in that 
 slighted land. 
 
 The Hungarians are fond of attempting 
 \ to prove a national resemblance between 
 ^ themselves and the English ; although, 
 ^ as a wreck of absenteeism, Ireland might 
 \\s^ surely afford them a closer parallel : — but 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 all who are acquainted with the morgue 
 and presumption of the Magyar character, 
 can appreciate the compliment intended 
 by the expression of such an opinion. 
 The English language has been of late 
 years extensively cultivated among the 
 higher classes ; and the names of our 
 popular writers and artists have become 
 '' familiar in their mouths as household 
 words." The portraits of Scott and Byron, 
 and engravings after the works of Wilkie 
 and Harlowe, are amongst their most 
 common domestic ornaments. I should 
 however be understood to allude simply 
 to the inhabitants of their chief cities, — 
 of Presburg, Pesth, Ofen, or Caschau; 
 for the provinces still remain in the lowest 
 state of mental and moral degradation. 
 
 At the University of Pesth, there is a 
 professorial chair for the English language, 
 with a liberal endowment. It is at pre- 
 sent filled by an intelligent Frenchman, — 
 a soldier of Napoleon's army, — who has 
 compiled in Latin for the use of the stu- 
 dents, an English Grammar, Dictionary, 
 and other class-books, which have been 
 
PREFACE Vll 
 
 honoured with the Gommendation of the 
 critics of Gottingen. The works first 
 placed in the hands of the scholars of 
 Pesth, are the Vicar of Wakefield, and 
 Shakspeare's comedies ! But the writings of 
 Scott, Byron, and Moore, with some of our 
 best periodicals, are in extensive circula- 
 tion ; and I had the gratification of find- 
 ing, in January last, the '' Keepsake" and 
 *' Forget-Me-Not" of the new year, on the 
 counter of a bookseller at Pesth; where, 
 as the last fashionable novel, 1 was pre- 
 sented with Lord Normanby's " Matilda." 
 Nor are our manufactures less appre- 
 ciated. I noticed that bobinci, or English 
 bobbin-net was lavishly distributed upon 
 the dresses of the recent Carnival ; and 
 that the price of five hundred florins, 
 munz, or fifty guineas, Avas affixed to a 
 set of Stafibrdshire crockery in a ware- 
 house in Buda ; while the most beautiful 
 Vienna porcelain was valued at a third 
 of the sum. The sign of *' the English 
 Lord " adorns several distinguished tailor's 
 shops in the Capital, — typified by the 
 effigy of '' a fine gay bold-faced villain," 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 in top boots, a hunting frock, and a brown 
 beaver ; or in an imitation of Werther's 
 costume. 
 
 I venture to record these unimportant 
 circumstances, to shew that while our 
 sole or chief acquaintance with Hungary 
 is derived from Dr. Bright's excellent 
 volume, there is scarcely an event of 
 English life, — a folly of London fashion, — 
 or an invention of British industry, — 
 which does not find admirers and com- 
 mentators and imitators, among the Hun- 
 garians of respectable degree. 
 
 Since the publication of the work to 
 which I have alluded, fourteen years of 
 peace and tranquillity have done much 
 towards the amelioration and advancement 
 of a nation, which can scarcely claim more 
 than to be considered as a connecting link 
 between the harbaresqiies and civilized 
 Europe. Pesth, — the modern capital, — 
 is extending its Regent Streets and Wa- 
 terloo Places, along the banks of the 
 Danube ; and requires only a permanent 
 bridge to form, in its union with Buda, one 
 of the finest cities of the Austrian states : 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 — a city exhibiting in the ancient walls of 
 Ofen the dignity of historical interest ; and 
 in the opulence and activity of her modern 
 rival, a cheering instance of commercial 
 prosperity. It seems probable indeed that 
 should some change occur in the policy of 
 the Austrian cabinet, — Hungary, with an 
 amended constitution, may claim that 
 place among the nations of Europe from 
 which she has been so long degraded. 
 Were I to describe more fully the condition 
 of this unhappy land, and the oppression 
 by which it is daily polluted, I might create 
 feelings of very Pf^iyif'jl j];^terest in its 
 favour; but I am aware that my limited 
 acquaintance with the language of the 
 people, and my ignorance of the classic 
 tongue far mere familiarly in use among 
 them, might betray me into exaggera- 
 tion. 
 
 The same consciousness, and the same 
 apprehensions, have perhaps tended to 
 enfeeble the sketches to which I have 
 presumed to prefix these general observa- 
 tions. I would on no account incur the 
 charge of being ''plus Arabe quen Arable;'' 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 but should I even now be taxed with such 
 an error, I can only reply that the greater 
 number of the following tales were written 
 in the country they affect to describe ; — 
 or, borrowing the language of Athalie, and 
 the emphasis of Duchesnois, answer in my 
 defence, " Je Vai vu ! " 
 
C A S S I A N. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Part with these humble thoughts, and fit thyself 
 
 To the noble state I labour to advance thee ; 
 
 Or, by my hopes to see thee honourable, 
 
 I will adopt a stranger to my heir, 
 
 And throw thee from my care ; — do not provoke me. 
 
 A Xew Way to Pay Old Debts. 
 
 A DULL autumnal evening was closing over the 
 Danube, and its cheerless gloom began to spread 
 itself through the vast saloon of one of the most 
 splendid mansions of the modern capital of 
 Hungar^^ It was a propitious hour for a conji- 
 dence ; and the Baroness Zeriny, laying a detain- 
 ing hand upon her son, who had been about to 
 profit by the darkness of the chamber, and the 
 seeming reverie of his lady mother, to steal from 
 her presence, broke silence by observing in a tone 
 
 B 
 
Z CASSIAN. 
 
 of affected interest, " your father, Cassian, tarries 
 late ; pray heaven that no mischance may have 
 detained him on the road." 
 
 Cassian Zeriny, suspecting that this observation 
 formed the mere outwork of more important 
 ground, vv^as careful to frame his reply in the 
 most listless manner. '^ My father hath been 
 heretofore used to perform this journey alone; he 
 is now, madam, the companion and protector of 
 a young and delicate girl. My cousin lolina 
 doubtless requires more consideration, and longer 
 periods of rest than my father hath been wont 
 to bestow upon his own needs. They left Trieste 
 but on the" — 
 
 Madame Zeriny cared little for the date or 
 duration of the journey. The name of lolina had 
 afforded her the hint on w^hich she had armed 
 herself to speak ; and intently observing her son, 
 she answered with an air of firmness : '^ true ! 
 I had forgotten the claims of your father's bro- 
 ther's daughter, — of the orphan niece whom 
 Josef's indifference to the interests of an only 
 child is about to force on my endurance. Let 
 me however forewarn you, Cassian, ere you 
 
CASSIAN. 
 
 become an inmate in the same house with your 
 young cousin, that common propriety requires 
 the renouncement of all childish familiarity be- 
 tween you. lolina wall be know^n here as the 
 Demoiselle Zeriny ; — as such I must request you 
 to address her." 
 
 *^ Certainly, madam, if such are your com- 
 mands. But w^ill not this new reserve on my part, 
 dear mother, appear to arise out of the altered 
 state of her fortunes V 
 
 " Cassian, these idle delicacies are unbecoming 
 the object to whom you would apply them. lolina 
 is a mere child." 
 
 '^ She is seventeen, mother." 
 ^' But unformed, — uncharactered." 
 ^' She is artless and light-hearted ; for until 
 very lately no cloud had passed over her head to 
 sadden the impulses of a cheerful disposition. 
 But lolina is equally spirited and intelligent, and 
 will not be insensible to any slight that may seem 
 urged by her dependent situation." 
 
 " I perceive she is not unprovided vyith a 
 partisan. But, my dear son, previous to your 
 cousin's arrival, let me assure you that the 
 
^ CASSIAN. 
 
 usages of society will render the tone of youth- 
 ful companionship established between you, highly 
 indecorous. I trust to see it give way to distant 
 and becoming respect." 
 
 " Respect !" reiterated Cassian, as he thought 
 of the girlish playfulness with which iolina had 
 been wont to welcome his arrival in her father's 
 dwelling. 
 
 '' In short," continued the Baroness, waxing 
 indignant at the repetition of her words, "in 
 short, Cassian, it is fitting you should be aware 
 that your father, in charging his household with 
 a portionless niece, does not destine her for a wife 
 to his son. Already our fortunes have received 
 sufficient injury, and our credit sufficient degra- 
 dation at her father's hands ; — therefore be as- 
 sured that on my first observation of any undue 
 intimacy between you, Iolina will be rejected 
 from my society, — deprived of her uncle's pro- 
 tection, — and cast out to shame and poverty. Ill 
 indeed would it further my views for your future 
 aggrandisement, that you should fall in love with 
 a low-born beggar. 
 
 "That I should fail in love !" thought Cassian. 
 
CASSIAN. 5 
 
 But this time he discreetly forbore to repeat his 
 mother's phrase ; and although he marvelled 
 much at the want of discernment betrayed in the 
 injunction, his astonishment remained secret and 
 silent. There was, in fact, no longer any coji- 
 dition to be admitted into the affair. Cassian 
 Zeriny already loved, or did love his young cousin 
 with all the vehemence and sincerity of a first 
 affection. He had been permitted, from his ear- 
 liest years, to accompany his father on an annual 
 visit to Trieste ; where his uncle, the father 
 of lolina, was settled as an opulent merchant'; 
 and on every returning summer he had found her 
 rising into the pride of beauty, and intelligence, 
 and grace. As the heiress of Ferdinand Zeriny's 
 supposed wealth, she had long been an object of 
 interest and competition among the rich and 
 powerful of her native city ; and Cassian trem- 
 bled lest on his succeeding visit to the shores of 
 the Adriatic, some project of high alliance might 
 be announced to him. Sometimes he imagfined 
 that an understanding existed between their 
 fathers, and that they were destined to re-unite 
 the branches of the family tree. Oftener still, 
 
b CASSIAN. 
 
 he fancied that Iblina herself betrayed a deeper 
 regard for " my cousin Cassian," than for any of 
 the numerous suitors, — the penniless princes of 
 Tuscany and Lombardy, — who were willing to 
 weigh their mouldy parchmeuts against her 
 father's florins. But his season of pleasing 
 doubts was soon to end ; the visionary splendours 
 of lolina's destiny were blighted for ever; and 
 ** a change came o'er the spirit of his dream !" 
 
 Josef Zeriny, the father of Cassian, was the 
 elder and only brother of the merchant of 
 Trieste ; nor did the twin sons of iEgeon display 
 a closer affinity in person, or a greater disparity 
 in character and pursuits. They had been early 
 associated by their parents in one of the higher 
 walks of commercial life ; had been furthered in 
 their prospects with equal liberality ; and, as 
 long as they had adhered to a common interest, 
 had equally and honourably prospered. But the 
 careful forecast and deliberate judgment of Josef, 
 found itself ill-assorted with the sanguine, spe- 
 culative turn of his elder brother; and they 
 agreed, although on terms of perfect amity, to 
 separate; — Josef to pursue his plodding, unob- 
 
CASSIAN. 
 
 trusive industry in his ancient house in the rising 
 city of Pesth ; — Ferdinand, — profuse and courtly 
 and magnificent as the commercial lords of the 
 Rialto, — to settle himself in Trieste. There, 
 extending the foreign intercourse, — not only of 
 his house, but of his nation, — he sent forth his 
 spreading sails into all the ports of the East ; 
 and beheld with pride the quays beneath his 
 palace windows, groaning under the cargoes 
 they bore as tributes to his feet. 
 
 Josef, the cool keen calculator, had defied the 
 influence of every softer attraction, in order to 
 ally himself with one of the most ancient and 
 influential houses of the Magyar nobility; Fer- 
 dinand, — the enthusiastic visionary, had taken a 
 dark-browed Italian into his bosom; portionless 
 and obscure, but beautiful as the inspirations of 
 her country. Josef retained, however, the frugal 
 habits of his forefathers, nor lived as though he 
 would aspire to rise above their fortunes. He 
 dwelt in the same dull, obscure house of business 
 which had laid the foundation of his father's 
 opulence ; and affected to follow the same mono- 
 tonous routine, and to share the same unwearied 
 
8 CASSIAN. 
 
 diligence, without presuming to forestal one hour 
 or one circumstance of that ease and enjoyment 
 which might eventually crown his labours. 
 
 But Ferdinand exulted to see the stately portico 
 of his villa reflect itself in the tideless waves of 
 the blue, glassy Adriatic ; to hear the voluptuous 
 swell of music steal through its white arcades, or 
 lose itself in the recesses of the orange groves. 
 It cheered the hours of his mercantile drudgery 
 to know the needy artist cherished by his protect- 
 ing benevolence, and the indigent man of letters 
 sheltered under his hospitable roof. He knew 
 his coffers to be exhausted by his numerous ven- 
 tures, — he even feared his credit to be precarious. 
 But what then? — his friendships were secure — 
 his funds were safely vested in the gratitude of his 
 dependents, — and he believed his speculations to 
 be thriving into success. The next changeful 
 wind might waft back from either India one of 
 his mighty caracks ; the next hour might crown 
 the efforts of one of his gigantic projects, and 
 repay with countless usury a long arrear of lavish 
 expenditure. 
 
 The consequences of this rash spirit of enter- 
 
CA3SIAN. y 
 
 prise must readily suggest themselves. The 
 winds and the waves did their usual part of 
 *' ungrateful injury" towards one who trusted 
 them too largely ; agents proved fraudulent ; pro- 
 jectors, mere visionaries; — familiar friends with- 
 drew their countenance, and the dark frowning 
 aspect of adversity filled its place. The world 
 looked coldly upon the falling fortunes of the 
 splendid merchant whose prodigality had shamed 
 its meanness ; and just as his beautiful daughter 
 had grown into womanhood, and begun to replace 
 his lost wife in his affections, Ferdinand Zeriny, 
 the Medici of Trieste, — died by his own hand, 
 a bankrupt and a beggar ! 
 
 Those who had hastened his end by desertion 
 and calumny, were not slow to sate their rapacity 
 and satisfy their claims at the expense of his 
 orphan child. All that he had, was indeed justly 
 forfeited. His glorious specimens of antique 
 sculpture, — his pictures — the best treasures of 
 his elegant opulence, — his massive plate, — his 
 acquired lands, — the vessels which lay with 
 drooping pennants motionless and uninformed 
 within the harbour, as though they mourned the 
 
 B 
 
 9 
 
10 CASSIAN. 
 
 ruin of him who had launched their early promise 
 upon the waves, — all were shared among the 
 rude claimants ; and lolina might have lacked the 
 shelter of a decent home, had not the plodding 
 industry of her uncle Josef already reaped its 
 reward, and his kind heart destined some portion 
 of its benefits to fall upon her desolate head. 
 
 Although the greater part of his acquired 
 wealth had been applied to commercial purposes, 
 to the construction of factories where the disco- 
 veries of science were adapted to the furtherance 
 of existing arts, until the gorgeous tissues of his 
 looms, aided by vicinity to Italy, and by compe- 
 tition with the fabrics of Turkey, became the 
 boast of Eastern Europe, — Josef no longer ex- 
 hibited that rude parsimony which had marked 
 his early progress. His ancient mansion had 
 been exchanged for an hotel of beautiful archi- 
 tecture, and princely dimensions ; whose courts 
 and conservatories vied with those of the noblest 
 mansions in Vienna. His limited household had 
 been expanded into one of liberal luxury ; and 
 the gentle blood of the Baroness Zeriny had 
 obtained admittance, or sufferance,, for her ob- 
 
CAS SI AX. 11 
 
 scure husband in the highest circles of Hunga- 
 rian pride. Josef, in short, the prudent Josef, 
 had seen the scale of his fortunes predominate, 
 in proportion as those of his brother had been 
 depressed. All was changed with him, except 
 that strong mind, and that upright heart, which 
 had been prompt to rejoice with the incautious 
 Ferdinand in his days of prosperity, and which 
 were the first to sympathize in his downfall, and 
 to deplore his untimely end. That fatal end was 
 indeed the first announcement of calamity which 
 reached the ears of Josef; for the pride of the 
 unfortunate Ferdinand, or some better feelino-, 
 had induced him to w^ithhold all knowledge of 
 his reverses from one who mi^ht have been 
 tempted to alleviate his distress, without regard 
 to the interests of his own family. 
 
 Xo sooner did the fatal intelligence reach the 
 elder Zeriny, than he hastened to Trieste ; in 
 order to extend the rainbow of peace and pro- 
 mise among the dark clouds overspreading the 
 destiny of his niece, which it was now too 
 late to dispel. He loved her indeed with an 
 affection secondary only to that which he felt for 
 
12 CASSIAN. 
 
 his only son ; — he loved her for her own, as well 
 as for her father's sake; — and although circum- 
 stances of various kinds had recently occurred 
 to alter his views respecting the union of the 
 young cousins, he hesitated not to offer her the 
 sacred protection of a father, and the security of 
 a permanent home. Nor can it be doubted that 
 the Demoiselle Zeriny, deserted and afflicted as 
 she was, welcomed with eager gratitude such 
 cheering prospects. She was content to leave a 
 land where the destinies of her father had been 
 crushed, and his name calumniated. She cared 
 not for the blue skies of Italy, — ^she grieved not 
 for the fragrance of its blossoms, or the melli- 
 fluous flattery of its accents;— she thought only 
 of that mother- country which had fostered her 
 father's childhood, and of which his renounce- 
 ment had been a signal of error and misfortune. 
 And there, even in that forgotten region of 
 obscurity and barbarism, she panted to find a 
 peaceful home, or a quiet grave. 
 
 With such expectations, and soothed by the 
 gentle moderation of her uncle's demeanour, Iblina 
 forsook the land of her birth. They traversed 
 
CASSIAN. 13 
 
 the dreary marbhes of Croatia ; in whose desola- 
 tion the creeping tortoise, and the pelican flapping 
 its wing^s aoainst the rustlins; reeds, alone abide. 
 The cry of the bittern makes their music, — the 
 feathers of the heron, their riches ; and lolina 
 gazed upon the rude and threatening aspect of 
 their scanty hum.an inhabitants with dismay. 
 She observed that her uncle, as well as his 
 heiduck and j'dger, w^as armed with more than 
 ordinaiy precaution ; and when the postmeister 
 of a lonely village insisted upon their taking a 
 circuitous route, in order to avoid a tract infested 
 by robbers, or as they style themselves in Hun- 
 gary, szegtny legeny (poor fellows), she looked 
 wistfully towards Zeriny, and inquired whether 
 the road they were travelling, afforded reasonable 
 grounds for such alarm. 
 
 " The country you are about to inhabit," he 
 replied, " and which I trust, dear child, you 
 may learn to consider your own, will suggest 
 many such inquiries. We are come of a rude 
 race> lolina; a race of warriors, whose foot hath 
 been forced to rest in the stirrup, and whose 
 hand upon the sabre, in order to resist the incur- 
 
14 CASSIAN. 
 
 sions of the barbarous tribes by which we are 
 surrounded. Turks and Tartars, Moslems and 
 Idolaters, have equally retarded our advancement 
 in civilization, by impeding the cultivation of 
 those arts of peace which form the true wealth 
 of a prosperous nation." 
 
 " But you speak, dear uncle, of the troubled 
 days of the olden time." 
 
 " Remember, that so recently as the year 1 682 
 the Turks had possession of our capital ; and 
 since that period, since the gratitude entertained 
 by the Hungarians towards Leopold the first, for 
 rescuing them from the Turkish yoke, rendered 
 their crown hereditary in the house of Austria, 
 we have been deprived of the advantage of an 
 independent government, and of a resident sove- 
 reign. Such, lolina, are the mischances which 
 have prolonged the existence of feudal law in 
 Hungary, long after the causes which suggested 
 its adoption have ceased to exist. The Hunga- 
 rian nobles, in affording their land personal 
 defence against invasion, as well as maintenance 
 for her armies, might fairly claim exemption 
 from the ordinary duties of a citizen, and 
 
CASSIAN. 15 
 
 the subsidiary taxation of a subject. But 
 thanks to Providence, the banners of war have 
 long been furled ; and peace demands protection, 
 in her turn, for the sons of her common- 
 wealth." 
 
 "My dear father hath often assured me," 
 observed Iblina, "that since the abolition of 
 villanage in Hungary, the condition of the 
 peasants has been greatly ameliorated, and that 
 the emperor Joseph II., in rendering back to the 
 nobles the rights of which he had deprived them, 
 insisted upon the retention of that protecting 
 edict so important to their vassals." 
 
 " The urbariunij or contract between lord and 
 peasant? True, lolina; nor is it upon the labour- 
 ing classes that the injurious effects of the ex- 
 isting constitution fall the most heavily. You 
 are aware that during the early troubles of the 
 kingdom, when its monarchs w^ere constantly 
 harassed and driven from their capital, — their 
 revenues impoverished, — and their resources ex- 
 hausted,— a grant of nobility afforded their only 
 means of exciting or rewarding the loyalty of 
 their subjects. Thus whole districts were enno- 
 
16 CASSIAN. 
 
 bled at once. You will find that my herdsmen 
 and miners, and domestic servants are noble, and 
 have a voice in the legislature of their country ; 
 w^hile their master, although assuredly their supe- 
 rior in education, v^ealth, and liberality of senti- 
 ment, is for ever excluded therefrom, and must 
 remain classed belovi^ them in the scale of 
 national estimation. Yonder untutored savage, 
 who is driving the plough, wrapt in his undressed 
 sheep's skin, hath, I doubt not, a patent of nobi- 
 lity in his pocket ; which would not only sanctify 
 any insolence he might be pleased to exhibit, but 
 enable him to opine in the senate of the county ; 
 which secures him from arrest, ay, even in case 
 of murder, — until the crime be proved in three 
 several courts, — and even when proved exempts 
 him from capital punishment, and renders 
 himself and his successors free from taxation or 
 tribute of every description.'' 
 
 '^ It is then upon the middle class that the 
 burden falls so heavily ?" 
 
 *^ Even so. In extending the commerce of my 
 native city, I have had to combat every difficulty 
 that prejudice and pride, and a vicious Constitu- 
 
CASSIAN. 17 
 
 tion could throw in my path ; and although the 
 fruits of my industry pour a ten-thousand fold 
 richer tribute into the Hungarian treasury than is 
 exacted from the united nobility of the kingdom, 
 yet am I stigmatized as worthless to the state ; 
 and am liable to be insulted, reviled, smitten, by 
 those whose brutality is authorized by the law of 
 the land. You will not wonder then, lolina, that 
 a class so heavily oppressed, — the extensive and 
 valuable class of middle life, — should exhibit the 
 stains of the fetters they are so ungenerously 
 condemned to wear ; that they should remain ob- 
 scure, unaspiring, ignorant, and unpolished ; and 
 that the magnats should fly from all contact 
 with so degraded a society. You will find Absen- 
 teeism to be the prevailing evil which retards the 
 civilization of our ancient kingdom, now alas ! 
 reduced to the degradation of existing as an 
 Austrian province. All the leading nobles whose 
 opulence and enlightenment might aid the ad- 
 vancement of their native land, carry their splen- 
 dour and their costliness to the foot of the 
 Emperor's throne. The mightiest names of Hun- 
 gary now belong to Vienna." 
 
18 
 
 CASSIAN. 
 
 " But surely Pesth retains a sufficient number 
 of the magnats to form an honourable society?" 
 
 ** We have, indeed, many noble lovers of their 
 country settled among us, in patient expectation 
 of the dawning of a brighter day. In Buda, 
 where the court of the Palatine affords them 
 some shew of favour, they are still more nu- 
 merous; and in Presburg, whose vicinity to the 
 Austrian capital insures them higher refinement, 
 and lighter pleasures, the ancient hotels of the 
 nobles are permanently occupied. But, generally 
 speaking, the magnats fly from the impoverished 
 aspect of that wretched country which owes its 
 miseries to their predominance ; and which 
 requires but equal administration, and a liberal 
 constitution, to take an honourable position 
 among the nations of Europe." 
 
 ^^ You have, I perceive, in compassion to my 
 terrors, withdrawn my attention from the original 
 question," observed lolina. ^' May I again 
 inquire whether these districts are truly so 
 perilous to travellers as report avouches ?" 
 
 '^ The Croats and Sclavonians are a rude race," 
 answered her uncle. ''Their native lords pre- 
 
CASSIAN. 19 
 
 sunie not to travel unarmed ; for they know that 
 oppression and destitution have made their vas- 
 sals desperate. We have now, however, nothing 
 to fear. Yonder village is Stuhlweissenburg, — 
 all that remains of the ancient residence of the 
 elective kings of Hungary,- — of the superb Alba 
 Re gal is." 
 
 '' The constant incursions of our barbarian 
 neighbours," said lolina, ^' must have been, 
 indeed, fatal to the interests of antiquity." 
 
 *^ They spared nor monument nor archive. 
 We are equally destitute of written literature and 
 of historical records. But you are tired, love," 
 said he, interrupting himself, as they entered the 
 paltry town, or rather village, once so celebrated 
 under a royal name, in the Hungarian annals; 
 ^^ tired of my homily, and of your journey. We 
 will rest here for the night." 
 
 They drove accordingly into the three-sided 
 building, whose piatzaj extending round a court, 
 announced the inn of Stuhlweissenburg. An 
 external staircase, and balcony ornamented the 
 inner wall ; at the foot of which, the waiter — 
 booted, and spurred, and mustachioed — was 
 
20 CASSIAN. 
 
 lounging in easy negligence. Several tame storks 
 were stalking through the filth of the court-yard, 
 and digging their long bills into its mysteries of 
 dirt and rubbish. The disorderly air of the 
 establishment, and the careless coolness of its 
 directors, afforded to the weary travellers just as 
 repulsive a reception as may be met with in every 
 inn of every road in Hungary. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 And, oh ! 'twas torture to my breast, 
 To meet thine altered eye ; 
 
 To see thee smile on all the rest, 
 But coldly pass me by ! 
 
 Lamb. 
 
 C AS SI AN was not present when, late on the fol- 
 lowing day, his father presented to the Baroness, 
 with earnest and solemn tenderness, the young 
 strano^er so interestino; to the feelino;s of both. 
 
 o o o 
 
 Had he, indeed, witnessed the warmth with 
 which Madame Zeriny welcomed her charge, 
 and the eager interest with which she fixed upon 
 her those piercing eyes which were destined to 
 penetrate her most secret intentions, he might 
 have been deceived into the belief that her 
 adverse sentiments had yielded to the soft and 
 bewitching loveliness of the fair Italian ; or he 
 might have been pained and alarmed by the 
 
22 C A S S I A N . 
 
 unsuspecting confidence with which the young 
 girl threw herself upon the protection of her stern 
 relative, as if secure of meeting there with the 
 sympathy of perfect love ; — as if intent upon 
 yielding and receiving the fondest duties of con- 
 sanguinity and affection. 
 
 When at length he entered the saloon, lolina 
 was scarcely so much surprised by his altered 
 demeanour towards herself, as by the cold and 
 unendearino; distance maintained between his 
 parents and their only child ; and she blushed 
 deeply when she recalled to mind her own Italian 
 warmth of address. During the first embarrassed 
 and perplexing evening they passed together, a 
 thousand trifling incidents pressed upon her 
 notice the constrained coldness of his manner 
 towards her; and grief and mortification began 
 to mingle with her astonishment. 
 
 '' He was not thus,'' thought she, ^^ when his 
 coming brought joy and exultation to my father's 
 house. The fairest gifts, the sweetest sounds, the 
 kindest words, were ever reserved for Cassian. 
 When he departed from us, I seemed to live but 
 till he came again ; and though he spake not to 
 
CASSIAN. 23 
 
 me of love, like the giddy lordlings who wore away 
 the tediousness of their useless existence by their 
 waste of importunities for my hand, still me- 
 thought he loved to dwell with my father in the 
 confiding tenderness of an unacknowledged son ; 
 and with myself, in all the unspoken but. intense 
 attachment of an affianced lover ! — Methouo-ht it 
 needed not words, nor common vows, between us ; 
 so closely was our happiness entwined together. 
 But Cassian is altered, — sadly altered. His 
 open smile is gone, — his frank address is tamed 
 into conventional forms, — his very voice is quali- 
 fied by a monotonous propriety. And can it be 
 that these changes have been effected by my 
 diminished fortunes ? Can he, — whom prosperity 
 should have elevated above such base considera- 
 tions, — can he who hath so often — so warmly, 
 reviled them in my presence, stoop to the con- 
 trol of such degrading calculations ? — Let me not 
 judge him hastily." 
 
 But the morrow, and the morrow's morrow, 
 and every succeeding day came and went with- 
 out varying the even tenor of his conduct, or 
 enabling her to affix a more flatterino; character 
 
24 CASSIAN. 
 
 upon his views. He conducted himself towards 
 her with the most chiUing deference ; nor referred 
 by look or word, to their former inteUigence. It 
 is true he saw her only in company with his 
 parents ; for her uncle, from the moment Cassian 
 had been old enough to supply his place in his 
 commercial department, had exacted the most 
 unwearied diligence from his son ; and had him- 
 self given way to habits of indolence, apparently 
 the result of over-action and exhausted faculties. 
 
 Nor did the consciousness of assured prospe- 
 rity, or the knowledge of the thriving condition 
 of his well-administered speculations, tend for a 
 moment to enfeeble the old man's love of gain, 
 or his anxious surveillance of Cassian's delegated 
 authority. It seemed, indeed, as if his absorp- 
 tion in worldly cares must be suggested by some 
 invisible motive, and directed to some especial 
 and momentous object. 
 
 And there did indeed exist a latent intention in 
 the frugal and active industry of Josef Zeriny. 
 From his earliest hour of manhood, he had 
 cherished one powerful and overcoming passion, 
 — stronger far than that of avarice. His love of 
 
CASSIAN. 25 
 
 gain was but as the vessel in which he trusted to 
 steer towards the harbour of his hopes; — and 
 gold lived in his estimation but as a material of 
 which to shape the rounds of ambition's airy 
 ladder. The stain of ignoble birth had long 
 rankled in his heart ; and the proud man's con- 
 tumely, to which he believed it to expose him, 
 was sufficient to overcome in his mind the con- 
 sciousness of superior abilities, — superior wealth, 
 — superior excellence. 
 
 In Hungary, as it is well known, the honours 
 of nobility are marketable. The crown lands of 
 the Banat, by which they may be conveyed, 
 afford too valuable a source of revenue to the 
 Imperial treasury, to admit of much delicacy, or 
 much scruple, in their distribution ; and although 
 financial foresight might suggest that the exemp- 
 tion from taxation conveyed among their privi- 
 leges, affords an important counterbalance to the 
 immediate advantage insured by their disposal, 
 yet the beggarly account of empty coffers in the 
 royal chancery, urges the Emperor to overlook 
 all such contingencies, for the sake of immediate 
 relief. 
 
26 CASSIAN. 
 
 Zeriny, bent upon securing the distinctions thus 
 attainable, had not lost sight of a single object 
 likely to forward his views. He had allied him- 
 self with a noble family which scorned and 
 rejected his name, even while feeding upon his 
 fortunes ; he had sought a wife whose hereditary 
 rank had not only dignified his homely house- 
 hold with her selfish and vain-glorious pride, but 
 had sanctioned his personal obscurity in the 
 minor circles of the nobility of the kingdom. 
 His own merits, — his influential connexion with 
 the mercantile interests of his country, as well 
 as his position as representative of a county, 
 had already secured him the countenance and 
 favour of the Archduke Joseph, the Palatine of 
 Hungary ; and by his recent renouncement of 
 all personal interference in commercial duties, 
 and by his gradual re-appearance in domestic 
 society, he was anxious to obliterate in some 
 measure the impression of his mean origin and 
 early condition ; and to ingratiate himself into 
 the favourable interpretation of that high class 
 of Magyar pride, into which wealth alone may 
 perhaps purchase admission, but where personal 
 
CASSIAN. 27 
 
 favour and esteem become necessary in order to 
 render the place thus secured, honourable and 
 susceptible of enjoyment. 
 
 In these views, in this intense desire of family 
 aggrandisement, Zeriny was more than seconded, 
 — he was restlessly impelled — by his ambitious 
 wife. The manufacturer and merchant of Pesth 
 had only to efface the stain of his birth, and 
 involuntary ignominy ; but the Baroness sought 
 to redeem an act of self-degradation, — an ill- 
 assorted marriage ; and to accomplish so valuable 
 a purpose, she would have been contented to 
 sacrifice her heart's best feelings, — her mind's 
 best principles ; — and to include the happiness of 
 all around her in the venture. 
 
 If Zeriny hesitated, her decision overcame his 
 scruples; — if his diligence relaxed, her taunts 
 roused up the slumbering demon by which he was 
 possessed. The gilded bauble, the ideal coronet 
 which she represented as the key by which all 
 the better joys of existence, and all the dignities 
 of social life, were locked from his participation, 
 floated ever in his mind like a redeeming symbol ; 
 by night, it disquieted his dreams, — by day, it 
 
28 CASS IAN. 
 
 stimulated and fostered that spirit of avarice 
 which seemed to inform and animate the most 
 trifling and indifferent of his undertaking^. 
 
 Had this congenial pair,— Zeriny and his rest- 
 less Baroness, — been contented to sacrifice their 
 ease, their peace of mind, their own Christian 
 duties, to the accomplishment of a single worldly 
 project, the penalty would have been theirs to 
 pay, as the joy would have been theirs to attain ; 
 and they lacked not judgment to weigh the price 
 against the real value of the object. But their 
 intentions and renouncements did not end here. 
 The child of their bosom was to be sacrificed to 
 Moloch; his affections were to be set at nought, 
 his tastes and principles disregarded, in order to 
 secure an alliance favourable to the furtherance of 
 their projects. 
 
 So long as lolina had presented the promise of 
 uniting a splendid fortune with their own, they 
 had been satisfied to observe the growing attach- 
 ment of the cousins, and to overlook the want of 
 dignity of her parentage ; but no sooner did the 
 daughter of the merchant of Trieste become the 
 daughter of the bankrupt-merchant, than they 
 
CASSIAX. 29 
 
 saw in her claims, only those of an indigent niece ; 
 and the beauty, and talent, and purity of mind 
 they had been wont to extol, became offensive to 
 their views, and consequently ^vorse than indif- 
 ferent in their estimation. They mutually re- 
 solved that an alliance w4th some branch of 
 Austrian nobility, w^hich might be content to 
 redeem the faded lustre of an impoverished line 
 by bartering rank and influence against aspiring 
 wealth, would alone serve to fulfil their expecta- 
 tions ; and the Baroness, w^ho had hitherto found 
 in Cassian a submissive deference to her will, 
 undertook to determine his intentions on the 
 subject. 
 
 With her, indeed, the ruling passion, — mighty 
 as the brazen serpent of the wilderness, — had 
 power to overcome and absorb all other feelings. 
 It was not so with her husband. The kindlier 
 influences of nature were obscured, but not 
 effaced, by his ambitious views. ^' My brother's 
 memory is sacred to my heart," said he to his 
 wife, as he departed for Trieste, " and if I lind 
 the happiness of yonder fair child involved in 
 her attachment to my son, — let the barony go 
 
30 CASSIAN. 
 
 hang; — I will none of it, if it must be purchased 
 with tears and heart-break. If their mutual love 
 prove other than the vague fancy of childish 
 infatuation, — if my brother's daughter cherish a 
 true and fervent affection for Cassian, they shall 
 marry, though the crown of Hungary were the- 
 forfeiture !" 
 
 The sight of that brother's daughter, — of her 
 gentleness, — her loveliness, — and above all, her 
 tears, and timid reliance upon his protection,— 
 soon appealed to the better feelings of his heart 
 more powerfully than he was prepared to resist; 
 and her artless conversation, and the manifest 
 docility of her character, confirmed all his pre- 
 dispositions in her favour. Before he reached 
 Pesth, he was more than half inclined to yield at 
 once to the first expression of Cassian's inclina- 
 tions; and to trust solely to the power of his 
 gold for the accomplishment of his purposes. 
 But the altered demeanour of his son, his appa- 
 rent coldness towards his cousin, and the calm- 
 ness of lolina, whose feelings were still horror- 
 struck and chilled by her father's misfortunes, 
 wholly absolved him from further scruples of 
 
CASSIAN. 31 
 
 conscience. The cousins no longer sought each 
 other's society, — no longer interchanged the or- 
 dinary caresses of kindred, — the common saluta- 
 tions of regard ; and the old man congratulated 
 himself that he had not been premature in the 
 disclosure of his disinterested decision in their 
 favour. The Baroness watched and favoured the 
 progress of his delusion ; and exulted in the suc- 
 cess of her machinations; while the fair and 
 unfriended lolina unconsciously became the tool 
 of her intentions, as she was destined eventually 
 to be their victim. 
 
 It is a cheerless thing for a young heart to be 
 uprooted from its native soil at the moment when 
 its expanding fibres are about to cling to sur- 
 rounding objects for support and happiness. Its 
 early friendships are condemned to wither, ere 
 their blossoms have permitted the rich fruit be- 
 neath to burst into maturity; — its early hopes are 
 doomed to be diverted from that fair future on 
 which they have so long loved to dwell; and 
 memory becomes the only power of mind whose 
 gifts are precious, and whose cultivation is con- 
 soling. 
 
32 CASSIAN. 
 
 lolina, just as her character was beginning to 
 assume the firmer texture of womanhood, found 
 herself torn from the haunts of her childhood, 
 and deprived of the .visionary splendours which 
 had rendered those haunts and that childhood 
 bright as a fairy dream. She found herself 
 removed from the " sweet south," to feel the blast 
 of the Hungarian desarts chill her shivering 
 frame ; she found herself removed from the fond 
 cherishing of affection, to feel the still deadlier, 
 still more penetrating coldness of human indif- 
 ference pierce the inmost recesses of her afflicted 
 heart. She was constrained to kneel in a strange 
 temple, — to seek the services of a strange house- 
 hold. The suffrage of a new society was to be 
 won, — and she who had been so long courted 
 and caressed, had now the dull task of life to 
 begin anew; without an aim for her cheerless 
 endeavours, — without the support of one approv- 
 ing smile. 
 
 And her task was cheerless indeed ! The con- 
 tracted minds of the higher classes of Hungarian 
 society, owe no expansion to the influence of 
 education; and their remote and secluded posi- 
 
CASSIAN. 33 
 
 tion admits not of that communication with 
 other and more enlightened countries which 
 might render their views more liberal, and their 
 selfism and exclusiveness less revoltingly evident. 
 The high-born dames of Pesth saw only in the 
 portionless niece of their tolerated friend, the 
 Baroness Zeriny, a bankrupt merchant's beggared 
 daughter; and in that character, her talents be- 
 came importunate, her beauty vain and valueless, 
 and her gentleness, a mere characteristic of the 
 subdued humility becoming her station in life. 
 
 But what was their insolence — their ignorant 
 meanness, — v/hat was the indifference of the 
 phlegmatic Baroness, or even the silent abstrac- 
 tion of her uncle, compared with the unexpected 
 estrangement of Cassian? What she had been 
 to him, — how kind, how conciliatory, how fer- 
 vently faithful, — what she had trusted to find 
 him to herself in her hour of need, — tender, and 
 firm, and encouraging, — what she now beheld 
 him, — stern, and silent, and indifferent; — these 
 were the contrasts which occupied her heart ; 
 which perplexed, and grieved, and bev/ildered 
 her comprehension ; till she coldly withdrew her 
 c 2 
 
34 CASSIA N. 
 
 faith in earthly excellence, and turned sickening 
 from the empty hollowness of the world. 
 
 Cassian Zeriny was, in fact, of an irresolute 
 and vacillating nature. Had his moral courage 
 equalled his personal bravery, or his strength of 
 feeling, — or had a well ordered education directed 
 the transient gleams of high and ardent spirit 
 which shone through the feeble gentleness of his 
 disposition, he would have better estimated his 
 importance to his parents, and would have made 
 it felt by boldly vindicating those rights of 
 nature, and those principles of honourable inde- 
 pendence, which no parental authority can en- 
 tirely supersede. He would have urged the 
 claims of her whose affections they had them- 
 selves prompted him to seek, however he might 
 have felt content to sacrifice his own happiness to 
 their will. But, like all of his nation and degree, 
 he had been educated at home, in lonely scholar- 
 ship ; and his mind had been overloaded with 
 the dry erudition of his pedagogue, while its 
 faults and weaknesses remained uncorrected by 
 the example and influence of fellows and co- 
 mates. The confidence of early friendship had 
 
CASSIAN. 35 
 
 not taught his reserved nature that bold frankness 
 which so well becomes the candid impulses of 
 youth ; nor had an enlarged communication with 
 the miniature world enabled him to strengthen 
 his judgment, or to estimate the character of 
 those pursuits, of that end and aim, to which the 
 views of his parents were directed in his behalf. 
 The displeasure of those parents had been held 
 up as the supreme terror of his early years ; and 
 he had been rarely called to the presence of his 
 father, unless to receive chastisement or admo- 
 nition. Is it then surprising that the force of 
 habit should have prevailed ? — that the maturity 
 of the heart should have preceded that of the 
 mind? and thatCassian, — accustomed to consider 
 his mother's will immutable as the Median law, 
 should have shrunk from braving an authority 
 he trusted to disarm by submission, — when the 
 threatened penalty of his rebellion was to be the 
 destitution and ruin of his friendless cousin ? 
 
 In complying to the letter with his mother's 
 artful injunctions, Cassian reserved to himself the 
 privilege of loving — in silence; — but in sincerity 
 and truth. Satisfied that no other suitor could 
 
36 CASSIAN. 
 
 approach lolina, and that no cliange of senti- 
 ment, or accession of joy or sorrow on her part, 
 could escape his daily notice, his humble nature 
 prompted him to attribute her pale cheek and 
 tremulous voice to the affliction of an orphaned 
 child, rather than to the influence of secret 
 attachment. He little dreamed that his unhappy 
 cousin, too deeply imbued with her mother's 
 national susceptibility to wean her heart with 
 ease from its youthful affections, too richly gifted 
 with her father's Hungarian pride to betray one 
 feeling of disappointment, — to allow one pang to 
 reveal its bitterness upon her countenance, or 
 suffer one accent of despair to mar the sweet 
 music of her voice, — he little knew that the 
 canker was eating into her heart ; and that of 
 her daily devotions, her prayer for release from life 
 and sorrow, was the most fervently repeated, — 
 the most constantly renewed. 
 
 " There are none now who love me," thought 
 she, " few whom I love. This northern climate 
 breathes harshly on my bosom, — I knew not that 
 its breath would prove so rude ; for when my 
 father spoke of Hungary, it was with the par- 
 
CASSIAN. 37 
 
 tiality due to the house of his infancy ; and when 
 Cassian loved to describe the scenes and the 
 character of his native land, it was in terms so 
 flattering — so captivating — so different from any 
 that reach me now !" And Ibhna continued to 
 revert to the opinions of her lost father, and of 
 her estranged lover, till her recollections rested 
 upon an old domestic of the family, an Hunga- 
 rian nurse, who had fostered the childhood of the 
 two brothers ; and whose old age w^as sustained 
 by their liberality. She remembered how dili- 
 gently she had prepared, under her father's 
 direction, a little stock of comforts and remem- 
 brances for Mariska, on every succeeding visit 
 made by Cassian to Trieste ; and she blushed 
 when she recollected how many weeks she had 
 been an inmate of her uncle's house, without even 
 inquiring whether the old woman still survived. 
 
 It was some relief to the loneliness of her heart 
 to find that Mariska resided under the roof of 
 Zeriny; and with feelings of grateful interest 
 and kindliness, she resolved to seek out this faith- 
 ful follower of the fortunes of her family. " She 
 will pity and console me, — counsel me, perhaps," 
 
38 CASSIAN. 
 
 thought lolina j " and even a word of kindness 
 were a welcome gift to one so wretched, — so 
 bereaved, — so hopeless as I am." And, preceded 
 by the Walachian boy who served as page to 
 the Baroness, she mounted to an upper story, and 
 entered the remote and neglected chamber of 
 Mariska. 
 
CHAPTER IIL 
 
 How well in thee appears 
 The constant sen-ice of the antique world ; — 
 Thou art not for the fashion of these times. 
 
 As You Like It. 
 
 The chamber into which lolina Zeriny was 
 ushered, appeared not only dreary and dis- 
 mantled, but tenantless. As she approached the 
 casement, however, to admire the vastness and 
 variety of the landscape it commanded, a shape- 
 less mass of garments raised itself into action 
 from an adjoining seat; and the visage of an 
 ancient Hungarian dame, wrinkled and haggard, 
 but brightly intelligent, suddenly confronted her 
 own. 
 
 Old Mariska retained with careful exactness 
 all the details of her strict national costume ; 
 although her leathern jerkin, garnished with 
 
40 CASSIAN. 
 
 black lambskin, hung loosely round her shrunken 
 waist ; and her uncovered white and scanty hair 
 was gathered into braids as carefully as though 
 those coifless tresses still boasted their original 
 raven hue. 
 
 '^ I have waited for thee, maiden," said the old 
 woman sternly, and without offering any token 
 of respect, as Iblina graciously approached her. 
 '^ Thy father's daughter might have marked that 
 there lacked in her father's hall, the fosterer of 
 his infancy; J have gone further, — ay, — and 
 toiled more heavily to do him service, than thou, 
 to-day, to do me grace; although thou pantest 
 and weariest so daintily from thy exertions." 
 
 " I have indeed been neglectful," answered 
 lolina pleadingly. " Pardon me, Mariska, for 
 his sake who is gone from us ; for his sake, aid 
 me to amend my fault. Now that I have learned 
 to know thine abode, the way will appear easier 
 and shorter." 
 
 '^ Callest thou that Southland courtesy ? No 
 matter, girl ! — Thy father, who taught himself to 
 scorn the land, and the language, and the cus- 
 toms of his ancestors, was pleased to give thee a 
 
CASSTAN. 41 
 
 mother whose smooth accents might gloss over 
 the rude frankness of plain Hungarian speech." 
 
 " Mariska !" interrupted Iblina, somewhat re- 
 proachfully, " the words of my father were aught 
 but rude or graceless when he delighted to tell 
 me of the mother of his youth. He spake of her 
 kindness, of her forbearance ; of the noble senti- 
 ments with which she sought to inspire his young 
 mind ; of the national pride with which she had 
 refused to share his splendid home, in a foreign 
 land ; — but he warned me not to expect a harsh 
 reception at her hands." 
 
 The iron brow of the old woman relaxed from 
 its rigidity at this expostulation. 
 
 ^^ Sit there !" said she, pointing to a low stool 
 by her side, and taking her distaff into her hands, 
 while lolina obeyed her imperative desire. '^ Sit 
 there, and tell me how the world looks upon the 
 orphan, in her hour of shame and poverty. Sit 
 beside me, child," she continued, passing her 
 hand tenderly over lolina's graceful head, as she 
 perceived the tears excited by her stern welcome 
 stealing down her cheeks. 
 
 **Thou has a glorious prospect here, mother," 
 
4;2 CASSIAN. 
 
 said lolina, anxious to find an indifferent subject 
 for conversation ; '^ a fair prospect, and fresh 
 breathing; and the ancient walls of Buda shew 
 from hence with dignity. The proud palace— the 
 arsenal — the convent towers — the cliffs of St. 
 Gerhardsberg — the bold mountains by which 
 their outlines are relieved, are fine objects for 
 daily contemplation." 
 
 '^ I, at least, love to look on them, my child ; 
 as I love to dwell on all that recalls the better 
 fortunes and prouder days of my native country. 
 Buda is the last tower of Magyar strength." 
 
 " I had learned to believe," said lolina, *' that 
 as a fortress, its strength was inferior to that of 
 Comorrn, or Temeswar, or" — 
 
 '^ Thy lowland tongue," answered Mariska, 
 " hath a more literal sense than ours. I spake 
 of the old fortress in reference to its power over 
 the mind — to its influence over national feeling. 
 I know.that we are a lost people, — sunk in bond- 
 age and obscurity, — mere tributary slaves of the 
 most slavish of empires. But when I look upon 
 yonder palace, Ina Zeriny, I remember that its 
 walls contain our last and proudest trophy of past 
 
CASSIAN. 43 
 
 independence, — even that sacred crown which 
 his Holiness vouchsafed to expedite from the 
 city of the seven hills, unto our canonized king !^ 
 Yes ! child," continued Mariska, raising her 
 skinny finger towards the towers of Buda, behind 
 w^hich the setting sun was darting a thousand 
 dazzling rays, *' Yes, child ! blessed indeed are 
 the eyes which rest daily and hourly upon the 
 hallowed walls which guard the regalia of Hun- 
 gary." 
 
 "And thou hast other and more enlivening 
 objects wherewith to divert thy solitude. The 
 gay city at thy feet, good Mariska, of which the 
 busy hum riseth so cheeringly; — the wide Danube 
 beyond, with its dancing waters, and its line of 
 passage, peopled even more fully than its shores." 
 
 " There spoke the daughter of the merchant of 
 Trieste. . Thou prizest the noisy quay, the wran- 
 gling mart, the chaffering and the tumultuous 
 interchange of base traffic. But I," said Mariska, 
 " who can boast of higher descent, and am come 
 of gentle lineage — I, blessed be Saint Stephen ! 
 
 * The crown of Hungary was presented by Pope Sylvester to 
 St. Stephen. 
 
44 CASSIAN. 
 
 have not received the degrading axioms of the 
 Zerinys, with those wages of servitude which 
 have been sparingly doled out to me by their 
 hands. Mariska's mind, rude though it be, and 
 barren of worldly lore, — is yet untainted by the 
 plague-spot of avarice ; and she cares more for 
 the silent streets and grass-grown courts of yon- 
 der city of desolation, than for the upstart wilder- 
 ness of shewy warehouses in which her dwelling 
 is appointed; — ay, even cumbered as it is by 
 the gorgeous habitations of those men of mud 
 who are contented to secure by pen and pack- 
 waggon the red gold which my fathers would 
 have scorned to win, save from their enemies 
 with naked blade, — or with pickaxe and lever, from 
 the teeming breast of their common mother. Ay, 
 ay !" muttered the old crone to herself, as she 
 fiercely plied her spindle, ^' Lipto and Kremnitz 
 are fain to let their ores bear the impress of 
 an Austrian addle-head; — while the Hungarians 
 must learn to seek their hard share of worldly pelf 
 from the slippered infidels who frequent their 
 fairs, or the traders from Fiume and Venice who 
 covet their rich possessions." 
 
GASSIAN. 45 
 
 •' Thou must indeed have noted many changes 
 in the land," observed lolina Zeriny in a firm 
 voice, although something intimidated by hev 
 virulence. " Thou hast seen a new city, — a new 
 metropolis, — bear witness to the independent in- 
 dustry of thy countrymen ; and since the ancient 
 days of Hungarian pride may not be revived, — 
 those days when the sword, and the buckler, and 
 the eternal harness of war, prevented our young- 
 men from applying their strength to the exercise 
 of the humble, but useful arts of peace, — since 
 we must perforce be contented with the sway and 
 protection of an alien government and foreign 
 prince, let us rejoice that we are learning to cul- 
 tivate within ourselves, that knowledge and those 
 energies which impart honour, and strength, and 
 influence unto other nations." 
 
 ^' God, — our maker and theirs, — in gifting us 
 with so much he hath been pleased to withhold 
 from them, willed not that we should compete 
 with them for so degrading a superiority. I 
 have, as thou sayest, seen many things, — many 
 that have grieved me ; and none more sorely 
 than the reekinsr of chimnies, and whirring: of 
 
46 CASSIAN. 
 
 brazen wheels within our city, which tell me that 
 the hands of my countrymen are at length 
 applied unto those base uses which have been 
 hitherto the portion of the German hounds who 
 wander hither to batten on the offal of our 
 land." 
 
 lolina waved her head, but would not irritate 
 the old woman by opposition. 
 
 " I am idle to waste such words on thee, 
 Italian child of my master's house, " resumed 
 Mariska ; *^ for they whose bread thou breakest, 
 they in whose hands the tissue of thy destiny is 
 weaving, — are among those whose prosperity and 
 expectation lie in the success of such undertak- 
 ings. They tell me, lady, that tissue is no longer 
 of golden threads ; and that thy rising sun, which 
 brightened many a dawning hope, hath set, ere 
 its meridian hour, in the dark clouds of adver- 
 sity.'' 
 
 '' They tell thee true, my mother," answered 
 lolina calmly. ^' I am now destitute and un- 
 friended I and therefore is it that I come in confi- 
 dence to claim thy goodwill. Thou wilt forgive me 
 that my father renounced his country, and sought 
 
CASSIAN. 47 
 
 fortune in foreign trade, — for I am landless and 
 penniless as the stauncher sires of my race ; thou 
 wilt forgive me, Mariska, that the blood of an 
 Italian mother flows in my veins, — for I am now 
 an orphan, in a land that disow^neth me. I dwell 
 here uncared for, as though no anxious interest 
 had watched over my cradle, — as though no tie 
 of kindred bound me to those by whose charity I 
 am fed." 
 
 The withered woman laid her distaff across her 
 knee, and gazed stedfastly into the countenance 
 of her young companion, as if to decipher her 
 inmost thoughts. But the tears, which hung in 
 heavy drops upon Iblina's dark lashes, disarmed 
 her inquisition ; and once more she imposed upon 
 her head the hand of encouraging tenderness, as 
 she replied, '^ Not uncared for, Ina ! There is one 
 of thy race to whom thy merest glance is dearer 
 than the light of heaven; — Cassiau loves thee, 
 child." 
 
 '' Cassian!" exclaimed her attentive auditress, 
 starting at the name. '' What should st thou 
 know of him, here in thy solitude ? Cassian, 
 who is of so cold and reserved a nature, can have 
 
48 CASSIAN. 
 
 conceded unto none the power to read its mys- 
 teries. No, no ! they who said it deceived thee, 
 dear Mariska ; or rather, the feeling which they 
 construed into love hath vanished with the golden 
 dreams on which it fed. Nay, more; — the shame 
 of conviction, — the shame of being forced to 
 mark that he sought my affections with views so 
 base, hath taught him to withdraw even such 
 common courtesies as kin and womanhood might 
 claim for me at his hands." 
 
 ^^ Cassian loves thee, girl!" persisted the old 
 dame. ^^ I heard it from eaves-droppers, such as 
 never yet bare false witness ; I learned it from 
 domestic traitors, who are ever forward to break 
 trust ! I marked it in a changeful cheek, — I 
 heard it in a failing voice, — I read it in the 
 restless, captious peevishness of absence. When 
 he was wont to pay me a visit of adieu, ere he 
 departed annually for the shores of the Adriatic, 
 his step would come bounding to my chamber, 
 and his joyous words would gush from his lips, 
 free as the Danube's waters. But when he 
 wended hither ward again, and bore me back thy 
 father's tributes of remembrance, how came he, — 
 
CASSIAN. 49 
 
 how spake he, — how looked he? Slowly, — 
 coldly, — anxiously, lolina ! He would stand, 
 even where thou standest, beside the casement, 
 and strain his eyes towards the far south, as if 
 yon mighty plain parted him from his heart's 
 best treasure, — and speak to me the while of his 
 uncle — of his gorgeous palace — his tasteful mag- 
 nificence. He would tell me of thine Austrian 
 city, — and its ports, and its prosperity; he would 
 tell me of the Italian breezes that wander thither, 
 and of the sweet smile with which summer gazes 
 upon that blossomed realm; and straightway 
 would he turn unto the cold monotonous wastes 
 of his native country, and gaze wearyingly upon 
 all around him." 
 
 The lady lolina seated herself again at the feet 
 of the beldame, and leaned her head against her 
 trembling knee. 
 
 ^* But of thee only spake he not," resumed 
 Mariska. *^Thy name was never uttered, until I 
 would question him concerning thy well-being. 
 At my first word, the congealed spring would 
 burst in torrents from the rock ; and he would 
 
 D 
 
50 CASSIAN. 
 
 place himself beside me, — even as thou dost now, 
 and tell me how fair thou wert, how wise, and 
 how good ; and that at the gates of the Piarist's 
 church, the maimed and the sick would fall down 
 before thy coming footsteps, as though an angel 
 passed ; and that " — 
 
 " Peace ! kind flatterer," said lolina, smiling, 
 and hiding her blushing face. " Seekest thou- 
 to convict me also through the self-betrayal of 
 cheek and voice? But labour not to steal my 
 confidence, — Mariska, as a free gift it shall be 
 all thine own. I loved him in those days, — 
 dearly loved him ; — and believed myself sure of 
 his affections ; and in this sweet hope, mother, 
 princes pressed their suit upon me in vain. In 
 the highest pomp of my prosperity I had no 
 prouder aim than to be his, when it should please 
 him to demand my hand ! —And when importunate 
 friends gathered round me at my dear father's 
 death, and told me that I was now poor as well 
 as friendless, the word had no horror for me. I 
 felt sure, firmly and proudly sure, of the posses- 
 sion of one devoted heart. Judge then whether 
 
CASSIAN. 51 
 
 I have a right to loathe this ostentatious dwelling, 
 in which I am harboured from fear of the world's 
 reproof, and in which I first marked the alter- 
 ation of looks so dear to me. I have trembled, 
 in other days, under its passionate expression; 
 and now the mists of a wintry sky shew not 
 more chilling.'' 
 
 " Go to, girl I" said Mariska with an air of 
 motherly chiding, '^ Cassian's is not an age for 
 such base worldliness. The Zerinys, it is true, 
 are a race who would coin their blood for ducats ; 
 but he, — I will own it, though I abhor the tribe 
 he springs from, and the commerce to which he 
 is devoted, — he hath an open hand, and an open 
 heart ; the young eaglet of the Krapaks flies not 
 more proudly in the brightness of day. No, 
 no ; — Cassian hath better feelings in his bosom 
 than those of thine imagining." 
 
 lolina kissed the hand of her comforter. '^ It 
 is sweet to find my former thoughts thus re- 
 echoed, — it is consoling to hear him thus com- 
 mended ; but neither thy praises, mother, nor 
 my own inclinations can longer deceive me. 
 
52 ' CASSIAN. 
 
 Since I have dwelt here in Pesth, Cassian hath 
 rarely accosted me, and with a shew of mere 
 distant courtesy. No morning greeting hath ever 
 been between us, no interchange of thought or '' — 
 '' By the pleasure of the Baroness, who hath 
 other views for her son. — I knoio the boy. From 
 his early years he hath been the redeeming pledge 
 of my devotion to that race in whose hard 
 service my life hath withered. When my foster- 
 son thy father quitted the land, I was about to 
 withdraw me from his brother's household ; for 
 the noble Magyar blood that fills my veins, 
 rebelled against the yoke of the proud woman 
 who had been set over it. But Cassian was 
 already born; — the boy loved me, — sought to 
 me, — and ever insisted to hear from- my lips the 
 legends of his native land ; and to repeat after 
 me such stern lessons of national honour, that 
 I soon learned to fix my hopes upon the growth 
 of the young tree which had sprung up in my 
 desart path. From that hour until now, I have 
 tarried near my nursling, and his happiness and 
 credit have been my dearest hope on earth." 
 
CASSIAN. 53 
 
 The Demoiselle Zeriny pressed closer to her side. 
 
 "And though he is now too old, — perchance 
 too proud, — to seek lessons from my wasted lips, 
 and grant me his confidence in return, yet little 
 importeth Cassian which is a secret in my ears. 
 The Baroness is bent upon wedding her son with 
 a noble kinswoman of her own, whose family 
 influence may further her views. His father seeks 
 the same end by devoting his time and thought 
 to the accumulation of greater wealth, and " — 
 
 ** And Cassian ? " inquired lolina. 
 
 " Hath a gentle spirit, which hath been too 
 roughly tutored to venture upon open defiance. 
 He speaks little, promises nothing, acts with 
 caution " — 
 
 *' And feels, dear Mariska ? " 
 
 " Be patient, child," said the old woman, 
 patting her cheek. " And now go thy ways ; 
 for the Baroness cares not to know thee absent 
 from her observation ; and still less, to perceive 
 that the worn out servitor of her husband's house 
 can receive that notice at the hands of others? 
 which her own arrogance hath withheld. *' 
 
64 CASSIAN. 
 
 " At least I may return ? '* inquired the grati- 
 fied girl, kissing the withered hand which sought 
 her own. 
 
 " Return as often as thou wilt, but ever at 
 this hour; for the boy Zeriny visits not my 
 chamber while daylight enables him to serve 
 his father's will. And if I rightly read thy 
 proud eye and open brow, thou wouldst willingly 
 avoid the presence of one who seeks thee not. 
 And so, sweetheart, all peace be with thee," said 
 Mariska, as the door closed upon her visitor, and 
 her retreating footsteps were lightly heard upon 
 the stair. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Climb we the cllfF, — the summer skies laugh out 
 More brightly from its heights ; and stretched beneath 
 The mighty vale unfolds its pastures, rich 
 A\ ith waving gold. 
 
 COWPER. 
 
 Never did the verbiage of the dull parading 
 Baroness appear so little tedious to lolina's ear, 
 never did the self-engrossment and abstraction 
 of her uncle seem so little repellent to her 
 feelings, as when she returned to their society, 
 excited by the new hopes and awakened tender- 
 ness, arising from Mariska's communication. 
 She no longer resented the unconcern with which 
 she was greeted, nor noted the insupportable 
 monotony of Baroness Zeriny's coterie, the sole 
 society in which her deep mourning permitted 
 her to appear. Their faults and weaknesses 
 dwelt in her observation but as those of the 
 
56 
 
 CASSIAN. 
 
 parents of Cassian ; and instead of rebelling, as 
 heretofore, against the ceremonious indifference 
 of their demeanour towards her, she promised 
 herself to win warmer regard at their hands by 
 her alacrity and cheerful submission. Hope is 
 the sweetest nurse of forbearance, and the fosterer 
 of many a feeble virtue. 
 
 Actuated by such motives, lolina was prompt 
 to outrage the better feelings of her nature, and 
 to subdue those emotions of filial sorrow which 
 would have retained her in silence and solitude ; 
 and the gaieties of the hotel Zeriny began to 
 derive new grace and fresh animation from her 
 presence. The tableaux represented in its gaudy 
 saloon, were directed by her taste to assume the 
 semblance of the mightiest triumphs of Italian 
 art; — its concerts were enhanced by the addition 
 of her scientific aid ; —its dance became more 
 sprightly, its masque more imaginative, and its 
 general tone more light, and elegant, as lolina 
 joined in its splendid festivities. Already her 
 charms and her talents had begun to excite the 
 wonder and admiration of the little world around 
 
CASSIAN. 57 
 
 her; when the Baroness, who read in her un- 
 wonted exertions only an artful design to extend 
 her influence over the mind of her cousin, ter- 
 minated her flattering career by bitter taunts and 
 insulting suggestions. 
 
 '^ The Demoiselle Zeriny had long but silently 
 noticed that a vain competition with the mag- 
 nificence of the Austrian capital founded the 
 moving impulse of the dull pageants of Hunga- 
 rian society. "Thus do they in Vienna, — thus 
 are the Parisians attired, — thus ride the English" 
 — are the apologetic phrases that burden every 
 lip ; and the nation so renowned for its tenacious 
 and barbarous originality, meanly deserts from 
 day to day, those peculiar characteristics which 
 form its only inheritance and distinction. 
 
 The Baroness Zeriny chanced to be among 
 the most prominent of those to whom the court 
 of Vienna ofl'ered an eternal model, — an object 
 of constant reference and communication. She 
 laboured to make it evident, on every occasion, 
 that her proper orbit lay in that hallowed sphere ; 
 and that as she had originally emerged from its 
 D 2 
 
58 CASSIAN. 
 
 glories, her setting beams must necessarily blend 
 with its refulgence. 
 
 *^ And must I, in sooth, adopt these fantastic 
 tires ? " asked lolina, as her aunt was pressing 
 her to inspect an importation of fashionable 
 finery from Vienna. 
 
 *' The Archduchess Sophia appeared in a dress ex- 
 actly similar,at the fete of the Russian ambassador." 
 
 " I doubt it not," replied Iblina ; " but is her 
 authority unimpeachable in Hungary ? What 
 though we give tribute to Caesar, and acknow- 
 ledge our unworthiness of national independence, 
 must our ancient habit, — our rich garb of Magyar 
 invention, prove a badge of disgrace ? We, who 
 are mere women, and have the taste and perti- 
 naciousness of our sex, dear aunt, are we forbidden 
 to exercise them in the very shaping of our gar- 
 ments ? " 
 
 *' You have a happy estimation of your own 
 judgment, lolina, if you would exalt it above 
 the fiat of the third capital in Europe ; and I 
 should further recommend you to rest satisfied 
 with mi/ decision in such matters." 
 
CASSIAN. 59 
 
 " Surely madam," observed Cassian who, with 
 his father, was an unwilling auditor of the 
 Baroness's reprimand, " surely you will not deny 
 to my cousin the poor privilege of vindicating 
 our national independence by retaining the pic- 
 turesque costume of our happier destinies." 
 
 *' I would deny to Mademoiselle Zeritiy," 
 answered the Baroness, *^ only such bootless in- 
 dulgence of wayward caprice, as becomes neither 
 her age, nor her condition." 
 
 " You must not, Ina, it it true, expect to find 
 the commercial class maintain that honourable 
 position in Hungarian society which you have 
 seen conceded to its influence in Trieste, Fiume, 
 or Venice," observed her uncle, who was anxious 
 to- divert the coarse, and personal character, of 
 the conversation. '* You must learn, I fear, 
 to repress your expectations of place and pre- 
 ference. The commerce of Hungary, limited as 
 it is by the want of means for exterior commu- 
 nication, — of canals, — of navigable rivers with 
 favourable courses, — and of practicable roads, — 
 hath retained a mean and pedling character 
 
60 CASSIAN. 
 
 which perhaps justifies the contempt lavished 
 upon all who are concerned in its details. Our 
 land is inexhaustible in natural resources, — 
 although even these are rendered abortive by the 
 6vil policy of an arbitrary government : — but in 
 the arts, in scientific manufactures, in all that 
 can add interest and dignity to mercantile pur- 
 suits, we are still lamentably deficient." 
 
 " I have often thought, dear uncle," said lolina 
 timidly, "that commerce can assume a dignified 
 character only in a maritime country or city. 
 The constant spectacle of its winged messengers, 
 lifting up their white sails in the sunshine, bear- 
 ing its mandates into remote regions, and bring- 
 ing back their tributes to its feet, possesses a re- 
 deeming majesty which overpowers the interested 
 degradation of its views. Genoa the superb 
 derived her splendours from the noble merchants 
 whose argosies rode upon her seas ; — Venice 
 rose from the Lagoon under a similar agency ; — 
 distant England, — where commerce can boast an 
 aristocracy of its own, — owes her prosperity and 
 her influence over the fate of nations to the same 
 
CASSIAN. 61 
 
 local advantages ; and even in the obscure city of 
 my youth, dear uncle, I have seen our proudest 
 and noblest, anxious suitors for the distinctions of 
 commercial life." 
 
 Cassian, in whose ears the gentle voice of 
 lolina wore a charm that enhanced even those of 
 her lovely countenance and graceful manner, lis- 
 tened with delight to the observations of his 
 cousin. He perceived that his father was pleased 
 by the tone of her conversation, so different from 
 that of the languid, vapid exclusives of his 
 mother's chosen society • and he began to cherish 
 some expectation that Iblina's captivations might 
 work their own way to the heart of his parents. 
 *' If they can resist so much sweetness, such 
 gentle resignation of her early claims," thought 
 he, *^ they must be formed of sterner stuff than 
 ordinary mortals." 
 
 On one personage of the Zeriny coterie, the 
 gentleness and accomplishments of the young 
 Italian had indeed made a deep impression ; but 
 the Princess Betthyani, although disposed to 
 admire, and love, and serve the fair creature 
 
62 CASSIAN. 
 
 whom she saw so lightly held by those around 
 her, had little influence over the mind of the 
 Baroness, except such as she derived from her 
 honourable position in the world, — from her high 
 birth, and favour with the Imperial family. In 
 Cassian alone, did she find a willing auditor of the 
 enthusiastic admiration which she was disposed 
 to lavish upon Iblina ; and his warm gratitude 
 for the distinction marked by the Princess towards 
 a being whom he so loved, without being able to 
 protect and honour, unfortunately imparted a 
 character of sensibility and tenderness to his 
 intercourse with his noble confidante, which gave 
 many a restless and unhappy hour to her for 
 whose sake it had become valuable. 
 
 lohna, who read in the devotion of her cousin 
 to the young and lovely Sidonia, only an indica- 
 tion of libertine attachment, was induced to 
 reject the advances made towards her friendship 
 by one whose mere notice had been honourable to 
 her, had it not seemed to be suggested by a 
 sinister motive ; and following the unhappy im- 
 pulse of her evil destiny, she coldly reserved her 
 
CASSIAN. 63 
 
 esteem and confidence from a woman equally 
 worthy and desirous of both. 
 
 In the meantime, the Carnival, with its forced 
 gaieties, — its redoutes and Casino maskings, — 
 had come and gone ; and to the ^' six weeks of 
 varnished faces," had succeeded the penitence 
 and platitude of Lent. From the boisterous, the 
 almost insane mirth of Shrove Tuesday, the 
 striking; of the midnioht bell had subdued the 
 intemperance of the giddy masquers into the 
 sober dulness becoming the season of sackcloth ; 
 until the splendid ceremonies of Easter at length 
 terminated both feast, and fast, and penance. 
 
 The spring was already far advanced ; and 
 Iblina perceived that even Hungary, — dark, 
 flcwerless, cheerless Hungary, — hath her season 
 of buds and smiles. The overflowing Danube, — 
 fed by the dissolving snows of the Rhoetian Alps, 
 appeared to sail with tenfold majesty between 
 the towers of B.uda and Pesth, — of the rival 
 queens who sought his preference. The islands 
 seemed to float upon the silver waves of the river, 
 upborne by the feathery lightness of their green 
 
64 CASSIAN. 
 
 and half-foliaged woods ;— the vine-covered hills 
 beyond Buda, which the budding vineyards had 
 long tinged with red, now assumed a hue of 
 downy verdure ; — and the trim gardens that sur- 
 rounded the avenue of the Stadt Waldchen and 
 its elegant suspension bridge, w^ere bright with a 
 thousand flowers. In the conservatories of the 
 Zerinische Haus, the *^ gioventH delV anno'' exhi- 
 bited a still richer portion of its fragrant treasures ; 
 and the birds imprisoned in its gilded aviaries 
 began to pour their awakened songs of joy amid 
 the blossoms, as exultingly as though no weary 
 heart ached at the sound ; — as though the master 
 whose riches cherished their music, could spare a 
 thought from his empty dreams of ambition to 
 commend its sweetness ! Spring was come, — the 
 hopeful, happy spring ; and for the first time 
 since lolina had learned to note its air of triumph 
 in bursting; from the bonds of winter, she looked 
 upon its blooming progress with indifference. 
 
 Spring was the appointed season for the visits of 
 her uncle and cousin to Trieste ; and well did she 
 remember the delight with which she had been 
 
CASSIAN. 65 
 
 accustomed to hail its early harbingers, — the 
 violets, and the swallows, and the woodbine buds. 
 And those tokens were once again before her eyes ; 
 and served to remind her of the lost pleasures 
 which had been so precious but so transient in 
 their enjoyment, w^hen shared with her cousin ; — 
 of their rides among the olive groves; — of their 
 evening walks along the marble terraces overlook- 
 ing the tideless shores of the Adriatic sea, — 
 those terraces where the shadows of the young 
 lovers fell between the moon and the tall pome- 
 granate trees, — where their hearts expanded in 
 sweet converse, — or in silence sweeter still ! And 
 such joys, such recreations, such moments of 
 tenderness and hope, had been enhanced and 
 sanctified by the approval of the kindest of 
 parents ; and Cassian's devotion had been scarcely 
 less acceptable to her own feelings, than to those 
 of her lost father. 
 
 And now, silence was again between them; 
 but not that sweet and happy stillness which is 
 the result of contented confidence. Cassian's 
 commonest salutations were now spoken in a 
 
66 CASSIAN. 
 
 constrained voice, — and the replies of Iblina 
 Zeriny were scarcely less proudly cold. Were 
 the reception-rooms of the Baroness filled with 
 the mirthful cheer of society, — Cassian had 
 speech, and smiles, and gallantry, for every one 
 — but his cousin ! and was she summoned to 
 make sport for the Philistines, by pouring forth 
 her enchanting voice in the appropriate melodies 
 of her own brighter country, Cassian would 
 wander listlessly into another chamber, or affect 
 to enter into eager conversation with some trifier 
 of the circle. It occurred to her that, at times, 
 he even rushed uncourteously past her, as if to 
 touch her garments in rude scorn; and that in 
 the midst of his attentions to the Princess 
 Betthyani, or other of his mother's beauteous 
 guests, he would still uneasily seek he?' eye, as 
 if to insure her observation of these indications 
 of estrangement, — these evidences of levity and 
 libertinage. 
 
 Consciousness like this did but strengthen her 
 in the assumed air of haughty indifference with 
 which she parried his attacks upon her patience ; 
 
CASSIAN. 67 
 
 and she had none save Mariska unto whom she 
 could venture to detail her grief and mortifica- 
 tion. But when she again attempted to allude to 
 Cassian's many misdoings, the old woman inter- 
 rupted her by saying, " Could it advantage thee 
 in aught, sweet Iblina, I would read this riddle 
 aright, and give thee a kinder interpretation of 
 Zeriny's actions. But Hwere an ill service to 
 both ; for the spring returneth not to its source, 
 and blood should not remingle with its parent 
 stream. Be ye wise then, children, — and look 
 for happiness in alien alliances. Thou, lolina, art 
 too indolent to find fitting support in Cassian's 
 gentle, timid nature ; and he, in seeking a bride 
 upon whose proud scutcheon he may found the 
 future honours of his house, should find it united 
 with a firm and aspiring spirit, to maintain and 
 strengthen the wavering placability of his own." 
 
 " But although we are no longer lovers, Ma- 
 riska, surely we may prove firm and confiding 
 friends ? 
 
 Mariska shook her head ; and the slender 
 thread she was weaving, snapped between her 
 
68 CASSIAN. 
 
 fingers. '* Thus be ye divided, since ye are 
 doomed to part. From friendship unto love, 
 lolina, there is no return ; from love to friendship 
 no step ; hatred or utter indifference offer the 
 only exchange for passion." 
 
 " And must I perforce content me v^^ith this 
 decision?" said lolina, pressing her slender 
 hands together. "I must, — I must! — for sub- 
 mission is my portion, my allotted destiny." 
 
 '^ Thy portion none may guess, save He w^hose 
 know^ledge is inscrutable," replied the withered 
 woman emphatically. " But if a sybil of four- 
 score years may guide thy looks into futurity, 
 Mariska prays thee to let thy day-dreams rest 
 upon a nobler alliance than the name of Zeriny 
 can promise. Ay, — Ina, — wed with a magnat, 
 — with one of pure Magyar blood ; — for in its 
 fierce tide, fierce virtues abound ; and a brave, 
 free, generous spirit can redeem many errors. 
 And now, girl, speak we no more of Cassian ; for 
 there is much sorrow, and little hope in the 
 theme." 
 
 But this summary edict, while it effectually 
 
CASSIAN. 69 
 
 silenced her companion, served but to render her 
 cheek more pale, her heart more wretched ; till 
 the languor of lolina's air, and the feebleness of 
 her voice attracted the notice even of her uncle. 
 
 '^ Methinks," said he, as they sat one evening 
 together in his garden, under the long silken 
 blossoms of the datura j ^^ methinks this landward 
 air liketh thee not, my gentle Ina; for thine 
 Italian bloom hath deserted thee, and thou seem- 
 est ill at ease. Why borrowest thou not the 
 lively cheer and bright glance of thy cousin 
 Cassian ; who, during the last few months, seems 
 to have attained a new existence." 
 
 lolina looked down upon her mourning habit 
 in reply. 
 
 '* I read thy thought, and love thee for it, 
 child ; — thy father is not, and should not be 
 forgotten. But thou art not of an age to 
 become so arrant a home-bird, and thy nest 
 wearies thee; — come then and follow me in a 
 bolder flight,'' said the old man with feeling. 
 **The Baroness Joins to-night the circle of the 
 Archduchess; Cassian is occupied in the de- 
 
70 CASSIAN. 
 
 spatch of an estafette to Bucharest; — and thou 
 and I, lolina, will cross the river, and ascend the 
 heights of the Blocksberg, from whence thou 
 may'st overlook our city and half the kingdom. 
 If the evening breeze upon its summit restore not 
 freshness to thy cheeks, they must be of marble." 
 " And would they were so, so my heart might 
 be as cold," murmured lolina to herself, as she 
 arrayed herself to accompany her uncle; and 
 stepping into the barge whose rowers bore his 
 livery, she seated herself by his side, and the 
 vessel was rapidly impelled through the current 
 of the sparkling tide. The old man seemed 
 gratified to find his niece, for the first time, 
 sharing his pleasures. His haughty wife deigned 
 indeed to participate only in his worldly schemes 
 of mutual advantage ; and the reserve which his 
 early severity had imposed upon Cassian had 
 chilled all confidence between them. But Ina, the 
 creature of his protection, sharing equally his 
 name and blood, seemed to wait with dutiful 
 affection upon the expression of his inclinations ; 
 and as the river breezes brightened her faded 
 
CASSIAN. 71 
 
 countenance, and the beauty and variousness of 
 the noble scenery around appeared reflected in 
 her eyes, Josef Zeriny looked upon her with more 
 than common interest. 
 
 On approaching the opposite shore of the 
 Danube, they observed the gaudy equipage of 
 the Baroness rapidly traversing the bridge of 
 boats, towards the palace. Satisfied to know 
 her niece removed from the vicinity of Cassian, 
 whom she had left in Pesth, she leaned gaily 
 from the carriage, and kissed her hand towards 
 the boat. It was the first time she had vouch- 
 safed so familiar a salute, — her air was even 
 affectionate ; and the unlooked-for kindness of 
 her kindred brought a pang of pleasure into 
 lolina's heart, and inclined her towards them 
 with unusual feelings of gratitude. Small indeed 
 is the measure of kindness which hath power to 
 touch the feelings of the wretched ; — I know of 
 no surer assay by which the intrinsic quality of 
 misery may be proved. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Tamper not with me, — I can body forth 
 
 A darker plague than thy worst image shews 
 
 And yet not shrink. Let me know all ; and thou 
 
 Shalt give thy plaudits to my self- renouncement 
 
 And willing sacrifice. 
 
 Fletcher. 
 
 The boat touched the landing stairs, the Brit- 
 schka was in waiting, and its light Hungarian 
 steeds soon left behind the squalid hovels of 
 the Raiscian suburb and ascended the heights 
 of the Blocksberg*. The road wound upwards 
 through a maze of vineyards ; and the valley 
 appeared gradually to widen at their feet, dis- 
 playing the fertilizing course of the mighty 
 
 * The Szent-Geller hegye, or mountain of St. Gerard, commonly 
 named in Ofen and Pesth as the Blocksberg. The celebrated astro- 
 nomical tower is situated upon its summit. 
 
CASsiAN. 73 
 
 Danube towards Xeusatz, until its waters va- 
 nished in the misty distance. As they mounted 
 still higher, the western hills seemed to recede, 
 mountain beyond mountain; till, having passed 
 the votive chapels scattered over the brow of the 
 Blocksberg, they found themselves compelled to 
 reach the Observatory on foot ; and in a few min- 
 utes they were panting upon the craggy summit, 
 lolina recoiled with horror from the preci- 
 pice, — to the brink of which she had been 
 betrayed by her curiosity, — from whose dizzy 
 elevation the heights of the fortress of Buda 
 appear confounded with the valley below them. 
 The Danube, alone, retains its mighty majesty 
 when thus overlooked ; and while the eyes of the 
 young stranger w^ere stretched to track the wind- 
 ings of its eddying w^aters, the vast pusztas, or 
 o-razing farms, which occupy the sandy plain of 
 Ketsckemet seemed spread beneath, trackless 
 and treeless as an Oriental desart. Even the 
 solitary dwellings and mean villages scattered at 
 intervals over its parched surface, served but to 
 add to its air of desolation; and Iblina exclaimed 
 
 E 
 
74 CASSIAN. 
 
 against its dreary extent, as she seated herself at 
 her uncle's side upon a fragment of rock com- 
 manding the boundless prospect. 
 
 " Yet hath it a peculiar boast," answered he; 
 " a boast exceeding even that of its rich fertility. 
 On yonder spot, lolina, or, as we distinguish it, 
 the plain of Rakosch, the Hungarians of the 
 olden time assembled to elect their sovereigns. 
 One hundred thousand tents of the nobility are 
 recorded to have whitened its dark surface during 
 the season of election." 
 
 ^* Do I not see the gleam of a white portico 
 among the plantations which fringe the borders 
 of its hallowed ground ?" 
 
 *^Thou art gazing upon my own summer palace 
 of E-bschatz. My oioii, do I call it ? Alas ! 'tis 
 mine but as a heavy rent and an absentee lord 
 permit. Art thou aware, Ina, that to become 
 proprietor of Hungarian earth, — save that which 
 finally receives alike both prince and vassal into 
 its cold recesses, — 'tis needful to prove as many 
 qiiarterings as a herald only may record ? And 
 I, — millionary as I am, — must fain content 
 
CASSIAN. 75 
 
 myself with breathing my native air upon the 
 inherited territories of others." 
 
 lolina looked at him for further explanation. 
 
 *' But a time will come, and I trust before I am 
 lost in caducity, when the Zerinys may presume 
 upon the sanction of the Emperor and of the 
 Aulic Chamber, to assume that state which, 
 worthless and paltiy as it is, hath become a 
 necessary badge of honour, in a land so mis- 
 governed as Hungaria. Yes ! lolina ; no sooner 
 shall Cassian conclude his marria^fe with the 
 daughter of Count Hunyadi, than my grant of 
 lands in the Banat, and the title they convey, 
 \vill bless me with the fruits of my laborious and 
 frugal life ; and raise both me and mine to the 
 distinctions I covet. This very evening, the 
 Baroness receives an audience of the Palatine, in 
 order to seek the Imperial sanction to so flatter- 
 ing an arrangement." 
 
 The perturbed blood rushed to lolina's cheeks, 
 and brow, and burning bosom, at this overpower- 
 ing announcement ; and as quickly left them 
 cold and colourless by gathering round her 
 
76 CASSIAN. 
 
 oppressed heart. ^' And will this, thinkest thou, 
 oh ! my uncle, bless thee with contentment V 
 murmured she. 
 
 ^^ Look around thee, lolina," said Josef in 
 reply. *' Look upon yonder many-tinted woods, 
 upon these mountains, — the winding river that 
 flows under their shadow, — and the tufted mea- 
 dows through which it wanders; — then tell me 
 whether there be any earthly acquirement which 
 gold can compass, that can match with their 
 united glories, works as they are of the Almighty 
 Creator's hand. I have toiled heavily and taken 
 much heed of mine earthly substance, and I am 
 now blessed with great riches; nor is there an 
 object among the fair achievements of art, or 
 a treasure among the inventions of luxury, which 
 I may not make my own. But such are, alas ! 
 of small account ; — they are base, they are trans- 
 itory, — they are fashioned by hands of clay ; — 
 and so long as I call not flood and fell, — pas- 
 ture and forest, mine, — my own, — I am still poor 
 and ungraced in my own estimation. No !" said 
 Zeriny, trembling from the excitement with which 
 
CASSIAN. 77 
 
 his eyes gloated upon the mighty territory at his 
 feet ; " no ! let me but live to know myself the 
 founder of a race, to see the son of my heart 
 take place and station among the inheritors of 
 our ancient national rights, and I shall die con- 
 tent with having so lived, and so laboured ! It 
 were worse than death, and worse than shame 
 unto my heart, should any unforeseen mischance 
 frustrate the consummation of my hopes ; and 
 my bitterest curse would fall upon all or any 
 whose agency might conduce to my disappoint- 
 ment." 
 
 His niece sighed in the submission of despair. 
 The sentence of her destiny had been pronounced; 
 and duty unto the brother of her father forbade 
 her even to grieve over a prospect which he 
 had set forth as the joy and triumph of his 
 existence. 
 
 " Be it so ! " said she to herself, as the old 
 man departed on a visit to the Professor resident 
 at the Observatory ; leaving her, as he smilingly 
 said, to the society of the rooks and angels. *' Be 
 it so ! my moan shall be soon made ; and I will 
 
78 CASSIAN. 
 
 rest my future hopes of peace upon a more equal 
 land ; — even upon yonder sky which laughs over 
 my head as though it shone in mockery. Yet 
 oh ! why was I bid to cherish expectations so 
 fruitless, — why was I permitted to nourish an 
 affection so intense, so unavailing ! " 
 
 She started as she spoke, for a step approached 
 her; and as she turned her head, Cassian him- 
 self, in all the pride of manly beauty, and all the 
 exultation of triumph, stood beside the rock in 
 a fissure of which she had sheltered herself from 
 the setting sun. 
 
 " I saw you from Mariska's swallow nest 
 ascend the mountain with my father," said he ; 
 " and I presumed that under such sanction, I 
 might intrude myself upon you. My mother 
 hath already departed to the evening society of 
 the Archduchess." 
 
 This announcement, which was probably in- 
 tended to convey a simple assurance of security 
 from observation, bore a far more offensive in- 
 tention to lolina's apprehension. 
 
 " I know it," she replied, writhing with the 
 
C A S S 1 A N . 
 
 effort to suppress her tears ; " but wlierefore 
 shouldst thou announce it. 
 
 " Because," replied Cassian, startled by her 
 unaccountable emotion, " I trusted you would the 
 more readily retain me in your presence ; and 
 perhaps efface by such an indulgence, the remem- 
 brance of the many wretched hours I find myself 
 condemned to endure." 
 
 The unhappy girl had now concealed her face 
 upon her knees as she sat ; for her quivering lips 
 and burning eyeballs could only have been re- 
 vealed to betray what pride would fain have 
 suppressed. Distressed and perplexed by her 
 evident perturbation, Cassian now seated himself 
 beside her, — hung over her with irrepressible 
 tenderness, — and began to soothe her with all 
 that gentle devotion of manner, which his low, 
 pleading tones had formerly rendered so capti- 
 vating. There was not a gentle word, a sweet 
 assurance, which he did not warmly urge to 
 obtain an explanation of her affliction. He 
 sought her confidence as a concession ; — he 
 claimed it as a right ; — he called upon her as 
 
80 CASSIAN. 
 
 his cousin, — as his beloved, — as his ^vifey to 
 suppress her sorrow, or to declare its origin. 
 
 " Oh ! utter hypocrite ! " said lolina at length, 
 unable to subdue her indignation. " Must I 
 learn to despise, ere I can school myself to forget 
 thee ? Why shouldst thou pause, Cassian, in 
 thy career, — why shouldst thou one moment 
 withdraw thy thoughts from the success that 
 crowns thy crafty scheming, to waste them upon 
 a lost, lonely thing, like me ? I am beggared, 
 Cassian, — I know it ; — I am of degraded extrac- 
 tion, — I know it ; — I am unworthy to share 
 the burden of thy new coronet, — alas ! I know 
 it; — I knew it when I rejected yonder proud 
 Florentine prince, who sought so anxiously to 
 share with me the splendours of his own ! — 
 But couldst thou not permit the poor girl to 
 subdue in silence and solitude the anguish of 
 the heart thou hast stung, — to suppress the 
 rebellious suggestions of the spirit thou hast 
 wounded, but that thou must wander hither 
 to insult her with thine airs of triumph ? Go — 
 go — Cassian ! thy pride will be fed with other 
 
CASS I AN. 81 
 
 homage, — thy success hailed by other lips ; — 
 let mine be sealed as patience or death may 
 decree ! " 
 
 "Art thou distraught, lolina?" exclaimed 
 her companion, at once amazed and indignant. 
 " In Heaven's name, who or what hath moved 
 thee to this frenzy?" 
 
 " Thyself, Cassian ! — thou hast done it ; — 
 thou, whom I so loved, — ay, start not at the 
 word, — to breathe it now, injures no modest 
 thought ! Thou hast done it, who gloriest in 
 telling me that thy haughty mother seeks the 
 presence of the Palatine, but to announce thy 
 broken faith, and approaching marriage with 
 another." 
 
 ^^ My marriage? — a mere dream, — a peevish 
 fantasy of thine own, sweet cousin. On my 
 honour and faith, there hath not been even 
 speech or project of such a nature." 
 
 lolina detailed the intelligence she had just 
 received from his father; and Cassian Zeriny 
 trembled as he listened to an announcement 
 wholly new and unexpected. 
 E 2 
 
82 CASSIAN. 
 
 " I would," said he, clasping his hands in his 
 turn, " I would I were the meanest serf that digs 
 for bread in yonder valley, so I might be free 
 from the thraldom of my parents' vain ambition ; 
 for verily there lies not jewel or ingot among 
 my father's hoards, which he considers more 
 marketable than my heart and hand. Ina, — 
 dearest! — my friend, — my sweet cousin, — revile 
 me not in so trying an hour ; for how may thy 
 sorrow be named with mine?'' 
 
 Iblina had now recovered from her momentary 
 accession of anger; nor could she prevent her 
 companion from seating himself beside her in 
 order to claim her sympathy in his distress ; or 
 silence those reiterated vows of continued and 
 changeless affection, by which he sought to 
 repay himself for so long a suppression of his 
 sentiments. 
 
 '^ This must not be, Cassian," interrupted she 
 at length. *' That sacred promise unto thy 
 mother which hath so long sealed thy lips, may 
 not be broken with impunity; and thy father's 
 declarations have this night torn a veil from my 
 
CASSIA N. 83 
 
 eyes, till I see and own that we are doomed to 
 part. When I stood beside my father's bloody 
 shroud, Cassian, — judge whether any common 
 emotion could wring that word from my lips, — I 
 felt that my anguish would have been insupport- 
 able had not one sustaining; remembrance soothed 
 the sorrow of that fatal hour. It was the re- 
 collection that during the happy years we had 
 lived together, my peevishness had never thwarted 
 his will ; and that the submission of perfect duty 
 had influenced my bearing towards him in every 
 circumstance of my existence. And shall I, — • 
 who have proved the consolation of such a 
 feeling, — shall I, dear Cassian, teach thee the sin 
 and sorrow of disobedience, and share with thee 
 an act which would carry death to the hearts of 
 thy parents ? — Oh! no ;— ^there is no joy in the 
 indulgence of selfish passion which can atone for 
 such a sacrifice. Cassian ! our union is indeed 
 impossible." 
 
 " Yet but now, you expressed a far different 
 thought. — Forgive me, Ina, for loving to recall 
 a confession so enchanting to my hopes." 
 
84 CASSIAN. 
 
 '' It was thy seeming insensibility, Zeriny, thy 
 supposed triumph, which roused such unwonted 
 feelings in my heart. I can share with content, — 
 with pride, — thy submission to the dictates of 
 virtue ; — I can even urge thy sacrifice of selfish 
 considerations; but Cassian's indifference was a 
 far more bitter trial.'' 
 
 '' Thou canst not have thought me indifferent, 
 lolina. My father may have deceived him- 
 self, — my mother may have trusted to my 
 obedience ; — but thou — ^thou" — 
 
 " Cassian, since we are destined to renounce 
 our past hopes, — since another interview may be 
 denied us, — let us not waste these precious 
 moments in vain retrospections, or separate with- 
 out clearly comprehending the relations which 
 must, in future, subsist between us." 
 
 " Speak not so sternly, Ina" — 
 
 '* I must, I must ; — for without firmness how 
 may I achieve my cruel task ! Hear me, 
 Cassian," she exclaimed, bending her knees and 
 solemnly joining her hands, " hear me swear 
 that I will never thwart the projects of thy 
 
CASSIAN. 85 
 
 parents by seeking to cherish or renew the 
 affection which hath been so dear unto both ; — 
 that I will never exchange vow or pledge with 
 thee, Cassian, nor receive thy wedded faith ; — 
 but in all things strive to forward the views of 
 thy father for thy welfare. May Heaven hear 
 and protect me as I keep holy my oath ; — and 
 if I fail, — be its unsparing curse upon my 
 head !" 
 
 ^^ Wherefore hast thou done this?" murmured 
 Zeriny, as she rose trembling from her knees, and 
 sunk beside him, oppressed by the solemnity of 
 the appeal she had uttered. "Thou, and thou 
 only, by thy rash vehemence hast put an eternal 
 bar betwixt us ! — Now then," said he after a 
 pause, " now then, let me indeed be gone ; for 
 I have nothing more to hear or to hope. Life 
 hath closed around me like the untimely dark- 
 ness of an eclipse." 
 
 He arose to depart. " Stay," exclaimed lolina, 
 "stay Cassian; — say that we are friends, ere 
 thou leavest my side. Stay, and hear one parting- 
 word of counsel. Thou art about to encounter 
 
86 CASSIAN. 
 
 the wide sea of life, Cassian, in a trim and gal- 
 lant vessel ; may thy cousin presume to bid thee 
 beware, ere thou leavest the port ? I would not 
 tell thee of rock or shoal, — of shifting winds, 
 Zeriny, or treacherous harbourage ; for these thou 
 hast judgment to shun. 'Tis against thyself,^ — 
 against the bark's wavering pilot, — that I would 
 forewarn thee. Distrust thine own timidity, — 
 vindicate thine own claims ; — and let not a con- 
 ciliatory policy lead thee to procrastinate the 
 consideration of present peril. Thou hast feebly 
 yielded unto thy parents the arbitrary disposal of 
 thine existence, until the prerogative hath twined 
 itself amid their life-strings, and it hath become 
 a sin to rend the knot asunder. But thou, — be 
 thou henceforward sterner of purpose, as thou 
 wouldst be happy, and confer happiness. And 
 now farewell, — cousin Cassian, — peace and ob- 
 livion be between us !" 
 
 Once and again, Zeriny attempted to speak in 
 reply, — but the words obeyed not his intention. 
 He therefore folded his hands together, and stood 
 gazing upon her he loved in speechless and 
 
CASSIAN. 87 
 
 agonizing intensity for many minutes. At length 
 the tears slowly stole upon his cheeks; — he knelt 
 down before her, — pressed her garment to his 
 lips, — then rising and bounding down the hill- 
 side, he was out of sight ere she had recovered 
 her powers of remonstrance. 
 
 *' How is this/' exclaimed her uncle, when some- 
 time afterwards returning from his visit, he found 
 her still seated on the spot where he had left her, 
 but in so altered a frame of feeling. Her lips 
 were now discoloured, — her looks haggard with 
 exhaustion, — her hair, scattered to the evening 
 winds. " What hath chanced,— who hath been 
 with thee, my dearest niece ?"— a sudden thought 
 enlightened him. 
 
 " Cassian hath been here," said he, " and you 
 have spoken together of his marriage." 
 
 ^' We have indeed met; — but only to part, in 
 mutual pardon and compassion. Uncle, we have 
 learned to live henceforth as strangers." 
 
 The unbidden tears gushed from the poor girl's 
 eyes as she spoke. 
 
 " lolina," observed the old man gravely, ^' you 
 
88 CASSIAN. 
 
 have been too reserved with me. Why is it that 
 I am permitted to witness this vehemence of feel- 
 ing, now that my knowledge comes too late ? 
 And yet," — he added, " deem not that I mider- 
 value your claims upon me. I swore, as T saw 
 your father's coffin lowered to the dust, that his 
 child should never fail to meet at my hands the 
 tenderness of a parent ; — and I will not forswear 
 myself. Say but one word, lolina, — say that 
 this attachment is essential to your happiness, — 
 say that you cannot resign my son and live,— and 
 I will hasten to the feet of the Palatine,— retract 
 my announcement, — and break off my connexion 
 with the family of Count Hunyadi." 
 
 lolina took her uncle's hand, and kissed it with 
 reverence. — " It is enough," said she ; " your 
 kindness disarms even my regrets. Be satisfied, 
 dear uncle, that were all these sacrifices made, an 
 insuperable obstacle, of my own creating, would 
 prevent my marriage with your son. Be satisfied 
 that nothing remains for my happiness, but to 
 forget Cassian." 
 
 She took his arm, and slowly descended the 
 
CASSIAN. 89 
 
 craggy steep towards the carriage; and still 
 speechless from emotion, they crossed the river, — 
 the threshold of their gates,— and parted for the 
 night. Many and contending thoughts disturbed 
 the rest of the Zeriny family ere they met 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 And o'er the ruin rose that strength which said 
 With nothing left to hope, there's nought to dread. 
 
 Byron. 
 
 " Mariska !" said the Demoiselle Zeriny, as 
 she entered the remote chamber of the old woman 
 on the following day, with a brow as pale as the 
 sheeted dead, but with a calm and even cheerful 
 demeanour, " they tell me thou art suffering from 
 some grievous indisposition." 
 
 The beldame sate rockino' herself backwards 
 and forwards, as if to quiet the sense of pain ; 
 and her distaff lay idle by her side ; but she sus- 
 pended her movements on perceiving lolina's 
 approach, and replied with unwonted gentleness, 
 " In spirit, love, not in body; — and they served 
 
CASSIAN. 91 
 
 me but ill who told thee of my ailment. And 
 thou, Ina ! thou," — 
 
 " Of myself," said lolina, " it needeth not to 
 speak, since an irreversible decree is a bootless 
 theme of argument ; and from such, alas ! win 
 I my sorrow." 
 
 Mariska took her hand with deference, and 
 gazed earnestly into her face. ^^ He is gone, kint- 
 saso^ ; at day-break he went hence, and these 
 old eyes will rest no more upon his sweet pre- 
 sence." 
 
 " Didst thou speak with him ere he departed ; 
 knowest thou whither he is bound V 
 
 " Nor with me, nor with any did Cassian com- 
 mune in his sorrow ; but the common babble of 
 the household runs that his father and the Ba- 
 roness spake him fair at parting, and mingled 
 tears with his ; and that it hath been settled 
 among them that the burden of his affliction 
 will be lightened if borne through other lands, 
 whose pleasures may efface the remembrances of 
 
 * Hungarian, darling. 
 
92 
 
 CASSIAN. 
 
 home. His suite y say they, follow him this night 
 unto Vienna, and his equipages will suit his lofty 
 fortunes ; — but what are they to our Cassian, 
 whose mind is dark with other imao:es, — whose 
 whole heart, — but silence, babbling dotard ! why 
 should I augment her sorrow, — why wish her to 
 deplore a parting and an absence which even 
 myself have taught her to look upon as a rescue 
 from after-sorrow. The beasts of the forest seek 
 not shelter in cave or lair wherein an enemy 
 abideth, and sad is the heart" — 
 
 *' lolina," interrupted the voice of the Baroness, 
 advancing into the chamber and graciously sa- 
 luting her niece, who stood trembling, and ab- 
 sorbed in thought, by Mariska's side, *^it was 
 not well to shed thy first tears upon another 
 bosom than mine ; trust me none can better 
 appreciate their bitterness, or more admire the 
 generous resignation by which they have been 
 urged." 
 
 '^ I have not wept, madam, — I do not weep," 
 replied Iblina, in a calm low voice. " During 
 many grievous months, I have indeed wept over 
 
CASSIAN. 93 
 
 the supposed estrangement and unworthiness of 
 him whom I loved. But to-day, I know him to 
 be still true, — still pure and excellent; — ■! know^ 
 that he is gone w^here absence will render our 
 dark and alienated existence less painful to both ; 
 I know that our common duty is fitly performed, 
 and I am content; — for what, alas! w^ould tears 
 avail us now ?" 
 
 ^' Say it not in that agonized voice, edes kint- 
 sem^ ; — say it not with those pallid cheeks!" 
 said Mariska. 
 
 ** Rather," observed the Baroness hastily, 
 " rather weep, sweet Ina, and mingle thy tears 
 with mine, that a luckless destiny parts me from 
 my only son." 
 
 " The lady of Zeriny might have spared her 
 tears, by retaining him among us who was the 
 light of all our eyes ;" observed Mariska, sul- 
 lenly. 
 
 " Would that I had earlier and better estimated 
 the strength of his attachment," replied the 
 
 * Hungraiian, dear love. 
 
94 CASSIAN. 
 
 Baroness evasively ; *' or known how firmly his 
 wishes were bent upon an union which the rash- 
 ness of my niece hath now rendered impossible." 
 
 " Fair and false, — fair and false," murmured 
 Mariska, " thou wouldst set a coronet upon his 
 brow, if its circle were to be shaped of metal 
 glowing from the furnace." 
 
 *^ Speak we no more of the past," said the 
 Baroness Zeriny reddening with anger, yet still 
 repressing the suggestions of her fury. " It were 
 bootless to recur to the chances of happiness we 
 have lost; since the vehemence and inconsider- 
 ation of lolina have alone rendered them unavail- 
 ing. Still, however, it shall be my fondest desire 
 to look upon her as my child of adoption ; nor 
 can my Cassian's future bride ever learn to rival 
 her in my regard." 
 
 She pressed the unresisting girl to her bosom, 
 and gently drawing her from Mariska's apart- 
 ment, conducted her, with a pompous shew of 
 sympathy and tenderness, into the presence of 
 her uncle ; whose swollen eyes and depressed 
 silence, bore witness to the sincerity of his 
 
CASSIAN. 95 
 
 caresses. From that hour, Josef Zeriny forbore 
 to name his son in her presence, or to revert to 
 any past events in which he bore a share. He 
 ceased not to treat his niece with the most soh- 
 citous affection, and neither himself nor the 
 Baroness appeared to acknowledge a dearer duty 
 than that of cheering and consoling their victim. 
 Nor was this chano-e of conduct alt02:ether 
 insincere in either. Like other eg^otists, thev 
 had only disliked their protegee as an obstacle to 
 their views ; and they were grateful to her for 
 the disinterestedness and promptitude with which 
 she had voluntarily terminated the expectations 
 of Cassian, and thus forwarded their projects. 
 They now began to look upon her in a new light, 
 — to recognize her peculiar claims upon their 
 love, — and to appreciate those valuable and en- 
 dearing qualities which had already insured her 
 the admiration and esteem of those by whom she 
 was surrounded. Every memento that might 
 serve to remind her of the absent one was scru- 
 pulously removed from her sight; — his name, — 
 that familiar sound which had formed the music 
 
96 CASSIAN. 
 
 of her life, was hushed in her presence, save 
 when her uncle occasionally whispered to some 
 visitor, with no unkind intention, that he was 
 well, — and happy, — and enjoying the diversions 
 of the Austrian capital. 
 
 It was from an indifferent person, — a compa^- 
 rative stranger, — that lolina was enabled to 
 obtain a more exact detail of the departure and 
 proceedings of her cousin. From the first day of 
 his absence, the young Princess Betthyani had 
 drawn nearer to her society, and had won her 
 confidence by the frank and earnest warmth with 
 which it was claimed. Sidonia was indeed a 
 being from whom it appeared difficult to withhold 
 aught which her varying fancy might urge her 
 to demand. Diminutive as a fairy, and as a 
 fairy wilful and potent in her influence, her 
 waywardness was more than redeemed by the 
 graceful elegance with which it was exerted, — 
 the disinterestedness by which its aims were 
 directed, — and the gay intelligence which occa- 
 sionally moderated its energy. Born of one of 
 the noblest Hungarian houses, her national pre- 
 
CASSIAN. 97 
 
 judices had been tempered by a long residence in 
 more enlightened countries. Her lord had been 
 a favoured ambassador from the court of Vienna 
 to the Emperor of France; in whose polished 
 court her hauteur had been softened into the 
 dignity of high breeding, her vivacity into the 
 easy gaiety of good society ; and the young and 
 beautiful Princess, the observed of all observers, 
 and the queen of many hearts, had retained amid 
 the blandishments of adulation and the corrup- 
 tions of a dissolute capital, not only that sprightly 
 originality which was the most alluring of her 
 fascinations, but the unblemished purity of heart 
 whose brightness shed a matchless lustre over her 
 beauty. 
 
 It will scarcely excite surprise that lolina's 
 heart was open to the influence of such attrac- 
 tions, and that she sought not to resist the charms 
 she found in the society of one so warmly 
 desirous of making it her own. 
 
 " I am your cousin's friend," said the Princess, 
 who had succeeded in obtaining her as the com- 
 panion of her daily drive in the Stadt Waldchen, 
 
93 CASSIAN. 
 
 and now wandered on her arm through its shady- 
 avenues. " I know all that hath chanced between 
 you, and I have his commands to tell you so. 
 I have to thank him for his ready consciousness 
 of the interest your appearance and character 
 had excited in my mind, and for his belief of my 
 worthiness to alleviate your present affliction and 
 forlorn destiny. He presumed not to send you 
 through my lips, or parting word or wish ; — for 
 he was sensible that he was yet unable to utter 
 any you might approve. But in acknowledging 
 that you had blighted every hope of a dearer 
 union, he bade me seek to win that friendship at 
 your hands which you have withdrawn from 
 himself. He bade me love you, — lolina; — ^and 
 that he seemed to consider no mighty labour ; 
 — and he bade me teach you to love me in 
 return, — and that, although a weightier task, 
 he named not as a hopeless one. And you uill 
 love me," continued the Princess, turning 
 abruptly to her companion, and pressing her 
 hands within her own, " you willj when you 
 know how truly I sympathize in your sorrow 
 
CASSIAN. 99 
 
 and how willingly I would aid you to subdue its 
 influence." 
 
 " You have already done much, in proving to 
 me that I am not utterly deserted by the crea- 
 tures of my kind," replied the Demoiselle Zeriny. 
 " Your highness's notice however honourable, is 
 little compared with the consolation of finding 
 that I am not altogether abandoned in my lone- 
 liness." 
 
 " Know me as Sidonia, or know me as an ene- 
 my," answered the Princess smilingly, *' Leave 
 we the dulness of etiquette to your lady aunt; 
 it befits the emptiness of her mind, and the 
 coldness of her imagination." 
 
 *^ She is the mother of Cassian." 
 
 '^ A redeeming circumstance ! which does not 
 however render her that of the Graces. Pardon 
 me lolina, — I have an arrear of contempt and 
 detestation to repay to her whose vain ambition 
 hath marred the happiness of the two most 
 highly gifted and sweetest natures which I 
 recognize among my countrymen." 
 
 *^ Yet let our earliest pledge of friendship prove 
 
100 CASSIAN. 
 
 a request, made and granted, in her favour. 
 Promise me, Sidonia, that the Baroness Zeriny 
 shall never form a topic of discourse between us. 
 So shall we escape the indulgence of many a 
 bitter thought and feeling." 
 
 '^ Have I set a taskmistress over me?" asked 
 the Princess, with a kiss of assent and adieu. 
 *' Easier were it, Iblina, to plant the Carpathian 
 chain amid the morasses of my Croatian lands, 
 than to tame my wild speech into moderation." 
 
 In the circle of Princess Betthyani, whose 
 husband held the important appointment of 
 Judex Curi(B, and whose supremacy over the 
 society of Pesth had been long established, lolina 
 Zeriny was now enabled to fix her unprejudiced 
 observation upon the higher and better attributes 
 of the Magyar character. She found that the 
 national pride which had been so irksome to her 
 in the exhibition of its barren selfism, could 
 assume a dignified elevation of mind ; — that the 
 vain profusion of heartless magnificence by 
 which she had been oppressed, was in truth the 
 failing of only that branch of native nobility 
 
CASSIAN'. ■ 101 
 
 which, having stooped to ally itself with vGtiuier 
 wealth, is ever seeking to defend its baseness 
 under the golden papoply for which its pride has 
 l)een bartered. She saw elegance, and ease, and 
 refinement, unite with the indulgence of literary 
 taste and the cultivation of the fine arts ; and 
 those whom she had noted with disgust in the 
 society of the Baroness, as encased in the stifi- 
 ness of chilling pride and power, seemed to throw 
 off their robe of ceremony on entering the pre- 
 sence of the sprightly and elegant Sidonia; — 
 even as the god of the Heathen heaven is said to 
 have laid aside the splendours of his brow, the 
 better to subdue and captivate a mortal heart ! 
 
 " I dreamed not of this," said lolina to the 
 Princess, after passing an evening in the chosen 
 society of her friend, whose lively fancy had been 
 exerted in devising a variety of trifling but en- 
 livening diversions, in the hope to win her 
 from cheerless contemplations. " Where is the 
 rude wildness, — the harsh and haughty egotism 
 I have heard attributed to the character of our 
 magnats ? " 
 
102 CASSIAN. 
 
 '^ I will not deceive you by declaring that 
 such qualities have no existence amongst us, 
 dear Ina ; for in the provinces they are still, — 
 alas ! the while, — cherished as national virtues. 
 But.among ourselves, and the * men of the world, 
 who know the world like men,' they are hung up 
 with rusty armour and obsolete usances on our 
 castle walls ; or, if exhibited at times, 'tis like 
 the drunken Helots of Sparta, — as an exemplary 
 monition. Trust me however that a genuine 
 Magyar nature, though rude and rough as our 
 mountain ore, is equally precious when moulded 
 by the hands of the careful and the wise." 
 
 This sentiment, and couched in language 
 equally figurative, was continually poured into 
 the ears of lolina, by the ancient and now decay- 
 ing servitor of her father's house. Her own 
 sense of suffering, and the perplexity of her mind, 
 caused her not to relax, for one moment, in the 
 discharge of those gentle duties by which the 
 sinking frame of the decrepid Mariska was re- 
 lieved from its pangs, and her spirit from its 
 desolation. The old woman w^as gradually dying : 
 
CASS I AN. 103 
 
 and patiently, and even cheeifully, anticipated 
 her end. 
 
 " I shall not lino;er throusih the summer," said 
 she, ^' nor do I pine to see once more the ripe- 
 ness of autumn, or fall with its falling leaves. 
 I was born that my strength might lighten the 
 leisure of those whom my great Creator appointed 
 to a higher 'degree ; and now that my strength 
 hath deserted me, the rest of my days is labour 
 and sorrow. My web is wove !" 
 
 ^' But those, dearest Mariska, who like thee 
 retain but the remembrance of a well-spent life, 
 and of duties diligently performed wherewith to 
 brighten the gloom of their latter days, should 
 not repine that the Almighty delays his summons." 
 
 " I repine not, girl ! or if I do, 'tis that I may 
 never look again upon the boy Cassian, or learn 
 whether the light follies of other nations have 
 effaced the impulses of his nobler nature, and of 
 his inbred national pride. I fear me the West will 
 long detain him from the plain of Ketschkemet ; 
 but when he returneth with his Austrian bride, — 
 nay ! I meant nOt to drive the colour from tliy 
 
104 CASSIAN. 
 
 cheek, — shew him old Mariska's grave; and tell 
 him, kintsdso, that it is the sweeter for being dug 
 in Hungarian earth ; and that the fosterer of his 
 childhood prays him therefrom to cherish that 
 feeling among his deepest and dearest." 
 
 "But my cousin will probably soon return," 
 said lolina, in a consolatory voice. 
 
 " Never ! — oh ! ■ never, — while his eyes must 
 bear to rest upon the form which he dare no 
 longer hope to clasp to his withered heart." 
 
 lolina started; — a new and afflicting light 
 broke in upon her mind ! 
 
 " But I know that all will be well with him," 
 continued the suffering woman. " With so sweet 
 a nature, with so noble a spirit, evil and sorrow 
 cannot be sentenced to abide. And I know that 
 his race will hereafter rule among my people ; 
 and that thou too, fair child of my nursling ! will 
 one day name thine offspring by a name of 
 honour ; and when the hour of thine exaltation 
 cometh, lolina, — when thy household shall be 
 appointed in one of the proudest palaces of yonder 
 ancient city, high above the river shore, remember 
 
CASSIA N. 105 
 
 that the blood of ^Nlaiiska flows in human veins, 
 and that the daughter of her son is, like thyself, 
 an orphan." 
 
 '* I dreamed not that kin of thine survived on 
 earth." 
 
 '^ The bower-maiden of thy friend the sweet 
 Princess Sidonia, claims to call me grandame ; 
 and if I have cared for my own race less than for 
 that of Zeriny, the fault hath not been in the 
 poor child." 
 
 " lolina was prompt in promising the old 
 woman to befriend her neglected relation ; and 
 the assurance that she would take her into her 
 service fell with a soothing influence upon the 
 dying ear to which it was directed. In a few 
 minutes Mariska's head sunk back upon her chair ; 
 and her young visitor, believing her to be asleep, 
 stole softly from the chamber. But when her 
 attendants visited her towards evening, they found 
 her posture unmoved ; her glassy eye still fixed 
 upon the towers of Buda which she had died in 
 gazing on ; and the light of the setting sun glanc- 
 ing upon her cold white face. Mariska rested 
 from her labours — her existence was closed ! 
 
CHAPTEH VII. 
 
 We were on earth the loneliest things ! — 
 
 Two flowers, upon a barren r^oor, — 
 Two birds, whose solitary wings 
 
 Seek onward to a brighter shore. 
 Two stars, upon the summer sky, 
 
 Whose beams delight to blend in one ; — 
 But he is wandering cheerlessly, — 
 
 And I am wearying here — alone! 
 
 Vane. 
 
 The appalling suddenness of the event, and 
 the many painful remembrances connected with 
 the life and death of the faithful Mariska, 
 combined to oppress the mind of lolina Zeriny 
 in so fatal a degree, that serious and even 
 perilous indisposition soon confined her to her 
 chamber. 
 
 Her sick bed was visited and watched with 
 
CASSIAN. 107 
 
 assiduous tenderness by those who had conspired 
 to lay her there ; but their pompous attentions 
 were disregarded and unfelt, when compared 
 with the unremitting and unpretending kindness 
 of the endearing Sidonia ; who stole about with 
 muffled step serving the unspoken wishes of the 
 invalid, like some ministering fairy ; — lending all 
 the liveliness of her mind to divert the depression 
 of lolina's spirit, — and striving, with the patience 
 of true affection, to brighten her gloomy pros- 
 pects, and to controvert her arguments in favour 
 of a speedy release from her sufferings. 
 
 '^ I shall die, Sidonia !" she would murmur, 
 with parched lips and wasting brow. '^ Earth 
 hath no further need of one so useless, — so 
 hopelessly wretched. I am withering like a 
 plant on which the sun refuses to shine, and 
 which may not flourish in neglect and darkness." 
 
 " Thy simile holds not good, peevish child. 
 Thou droopest in sooth like a flower which, in 
 erring wilfulness, hath crept out of the sun- 
 beams; — such wanderers are not sentenced to 
 wither away, but when replaced in the light of 
 
108 CASSIAN. 
 
 the morning, they spread forth their leaves in 
 renovated loveliness. And thou, Ina, art stealing 
 back into the smile of the world, — or rather, 
 thou art sought by its smile in the shade of thy 
 sorrow!" 
 
 '^ It will scarcely find me. — My abiding place 
 will soon be in the depth of those dark caverns 
 which mortals love not to fathom. I had not 
 thought to shelter me there so early, nor so 
 contentedly ; for my youth hath cherished many 
 dreams, Sidonia, — visions of high aspiring,— and 
 such sanguine hopes of unalloyed earthly happi- 
 ness as bewildered my better judgment. — But 
 are those hopes, forbidden hopes, Sidonia ? Is it 
 lawless for a young heart to rest its expectations 
 of joy on dwelling in a hallowed home, with one 
 whose love is sanctioned of duty, — of kindred, — 
 of the Church ? — to know no will but his, — ac- 
 knowledge no aim of existence save the retainment 
 and perfecting of his affection ? Is it lawless to 
 sorrow over the blighting of such hopes, — to 
 grieve, — and oh ! how bitterly- — that they were 
 ever permitted to arise ? Tell me, Sidonia, — is 
 
CASSIAN. 109 
 
 there shame, is there fear in such devotion 
 as this V 
 
 *^ In such pure and disinterested affection? 
 none, — surely none! But to turn away with 
 peevish repining from the consolations of after 
 life, to reject all occasions of happiness, — and 
 leave every appointed duty unfulfilled, this is 
 lawless, this is forbidden ; and Heaven will, I 
 fear me, judge in its own great day all such 
 abuse of the gracious gifts it hath lavished, 
 dearest, on thyself." 
 
 lolina roused herself to listen. '* Thy words 
 bring conviction, but" — 
 
 " Hush !" said the Princess, laying her tiny 
 hand upon the lips of the sufferer. ^^ I will not 
 hear thee wrong thy worthier thoughts. Even I, 
 Ina, despite the high-mindedness with which the 
 world reproacheth me, despite the levity which 
 thyself, love, hast sometimes laid to my charge, — 
 I should shrink from the rebellious insubmission 
 by which thou presumest to arraign that Judg- 
 ment which passeth thine understanding. Nor 
 it is not for such as thou to fly with coward 
 
110 CASSIAN. 
 
 impatience from the endurance of affliction. 
 Thy hopes, thy wishes are thwarted ; — of what 
 else dost thou complain ? And who that lives, 
 Iblina, from the anointed Emperor, to the loath- 
 some beggar, but can murmur against a similar 
 dispensation ? She who is gone in the fulness of 
 years so peacefully to her grave, — whose dili- 
 gence was so long and faithfully devoted unto the 
 race of Zeriny, — thinkest thou that it was not 
 wormwood to her taste — she, a freeborn woman 
 and noble, — to waste away her being under the 
 tyranny of a mean-minded, pitiful despot, such 
 as the Baroness? That vei-y Baroness herself, 
 with all her gilded w^aste and empty state, wilt 
 thou not own that so long as the distinctions of 
 nobility are withheld from her race, — so long as 
 she sees Mordecai the Jew sitting in the king's 
 gate, and is herself rejected, — wilt thou not own 
 that the blessings of her lot profit her in small 
 degree ?" 
 
 '^ Let us not forget our conventions regarding 
 her, even in the warmth of discussion." 
 
 '^ Of myself then, suffer me to speak unre- 
 
CASSIAN. Ill 
 
 servedly ; and thou wilt find that Sidonia's des- 
 tiny, bright though it appear, hath crosses and 
 cares peculiarly its own. — Just as I was learning 
 to fix my observations upon the usages of the 
 world, I was translated from the obscurity of my 
 own barbarous land, into the polished and fasci- 
 nating elegance of French society; and ex- 
 changed it but for the more intellectual refine- 
 ment, the more elevated tone of the British capi- 
 tal. In the highest circles of both countries, — 
 in which the rank of my husband, as the ambas- 
 sador of Austria, insured my warm acceptance, — 
 I learned to know and admire all that is great, 
 and good, and graceful ; and scarcely had I be- 
 gun to wish that my days might pass away among 
 those enlightened friends who rendered them so 
 enchanting, when my evil destiny recalled me into 
 these savage regions ; where my single hand 
 might vainly seek to work reformation, and where 
 my single heart finds little to atone for that which 
 it was forced to resign ! I fear I am ungracious, 
 — and I would not be so, lolina ; for I love my 
 country, and only grieve to see her cling to those 
 
112 CASSIAN. 
 
 obsolete and demoralizing privileges, which ren- 
 der her intercourse so revolting. Perhaps too I 
 estimate myself more highly than I can justify; 
 for I own it grieves me to ' waste long days that 
 might be better spent' in the unintellectual and 
 ungentle society of Pesth. But such is my duty ; 
 and I trust it is cheerfully fulfilled. Sure, at 
 least, am I that till this moment I have never 
 given utterance to my secret discontent, and that 
 the Prince my excellent husband is undisturbed 
 by any doubts of my perfect happiness." 
 
 '^But surely Sidonia will not oppose a mere 
 distaste like this, to a sorrow which is influenced 
 by the most important events of life ?" 
 
 " Had I said all, I should not venture to mea- 
 sure my grievances with thine ; but my greatest 
 affliction, lolina, remains untold, — my separation 
 from my only, and most beloved brother." 
 
 "A brother! — and thou hast never yet hinted 
 his very existence !" 
 
 *' Believing that under the tutelage of one so 
 genealogically skilled as the Baroness, thou 
 couldst not fail to be perfect in my family 
 annals." 
 
CASSIAxV. 113 
 
 *' My aunt is too fully occupied by her own 
 heraldic honours and expectations, to care for 
 the instruction of one to whom such knowledge 
 is likely to be superfluous." 
 
 '^ And thou hast positively held me to thy 
 heart in honest good faith, without so much as 
 inquiring whether I can claim quarterings enough 
 to secure my admittance into a chapter of the 
 empire? Fie! lolina." 
 
 '' Unqualified as I am to meet a similar in- 
 quiry,"— 
 
 " Basta — hasta ! and know me at length for 
 a daug;hter of Linootski ; for one of a race of 
 heroes and patriots, — or rebels and assassins, — 
 as thy creed may hold." 
 
 ^^ Rather as one of that high-minded family, 
 whose feats, whose praises and persecutions, have 
 been hymned in my ears by our poor Mariska 
 ever since Huno;arian legends have become dear 
 to me. And this brother, Sidonia, on whose' 
 name thou dwellest so sparingly, is it — can it be 
 the Count Sigmond who, as I have heard her 
 record " — 
 
114 CASSIAN. 
 
 " Was banished to his estates by the Emperor, 
 two summers ago, for having ventured to vindi- 
 cate, somev^^hat peremptorily, the ancient rights 
 of his free country."' 
 
 *^ And who yet remains in exile ?" 
 
 " He does indeed. For although the original 
 offence was scarcely of so grave a character as 
 to justify a protracted banishment, yet Sigmond's 
 determination to seek no grace at the Emperor's 
 hands, and his imprudent bearing during his 
 season of condemnation, have but served to 
 lengthen and embitter it. A German sovereign 
 is not more absolute in his kingdom than the 
 Lingotski upon his ancient heritage ; nor is there 
 an excess or a crime which, at his bidding, his 
 vassals would leave unexecuted. The Emperor, 
 conscious of the mischiefs to which such power 
 might be applied, imprudently seeks to crush by 
 oppression, where he might more easily win by 
 conciliation ; and my brother, who is hot-headed, 
 and fierce, and reckless as the wildest of his 
 ancestry, hath been wrought by severity into open 
 defiance of the rulers of our unhappy country. 
 
C A S S I A N . 115 
 
 Himself the most absolute of men, — the inflam- 
 matory words of slave and despot, of tyranny 
 and ancient right, — which have been telegraphed 
 from the Burschen of Jena and Heidelberg to 
 those of our university, — are ever upon his lips ; 
 and excite such terrors in my mind for his future 
 destiny, that at times I scarcely deplore the fate 
 which for two long years hath kept us asunder. 
 There are moments, however, when my heart 
 pants after the presence of that absent brother as 
 if it acknowledged no dearer influence upon 
 earth." 
 
 '' Surely the credit of Prince Betthyani might 
 have availed to mitis^ate the sentence of the 
 Count?" 
 
 '' Another subject of sorrow. My husband 
 resolutely abstains from all intercession in his 
 favour ; not from want of affection towards 
 Sigmond ; for next to our own sweet boy, I know 
 not the living being upon whom his hopes so rest. 
 But Betthyani hath survived the age of romance; 
 — heroic virtues scarcely find favour in his 
 sio-ht, — and heroic excesses and extravao-ances 
 
116 CASSIAN. 
 
 provoke his indignation or contempt. He is bent 
 upon lowering the tone of my brother's character 
 into that of steady reason, by proving to him 
 how insufficient are his puny powers of resistance 
 against those of established sovereignty ; and by 
 removing him from pernicious and inflammatory 
 influence into the soberness of solitude and 
 reflection." 
 
 "With one of so determined a character as T 
 have heard ascribed to Count Lingotski, I fear 
 the expectations of the Prince have hardly been 
 fulfilled. Surely his object would have been 
 better attained, and Sigmond's opinions more 
 seriously corrected, by an extended acquaintance 
 with the tone of general society, — by travel in 
 more polished countries, — by communion with 
 the good and wise of other nations ?'' 
 
 " Little knowest thou of Sigmond Lingotski ! 
 That exaggerated sentiment which it is his 
 pleasure to call patriotism, hath long determined 
 him to live and die on Hungarian earth ; and the 
 Viscount of a paltry province of this province 
 of Austria, lives in his estimation as a more 
 
CASSIAN. 117 
 
 elevated being than the reigning monarch of any- 
 other land." — 
 
 *^ The ordinary Magyar delusion." 
 
 '^ And now, lolina, that I have unfolded my 
 chapter of grievances, in its whole selfish and 
 tedious length, tell me whether a sister thus 
 sadly parted from an only brother, — who, or- 
 phaned in her infancy, — can claim kindred with 
 no other breathing thing, yet lives without the 
 hope of looking upon his face again, — tell me 
 whether Sidonia Betthyani have indeed no cause 
 for murmurinp;." 
 
 lolina was about to reply, when the entrance 
 of the Baroness, followed by the solemn man in 
 black whose ofSce it was to assign the condition 
 of the invalid for the day, as worse or better 
 according to his patroness's suggestions, — inter- 
 rupted the colloquy of the friends. On the 
 present occasion it was her lordly pleasure that 
 the passive leech should condemn the excitement 
 of conversation ; — restrict the visits of friends to 
 the sick chamber, — and then, brightening with 
 a sudden inspiration of hope, announce that a 
 
118 CASSIAN. 
 
 degree of amendment had taken place, which 
 should be immediately improved by change of 
 air and scene ; and that in a few days the 
 Baroness must prepare to escort her niece to the 
 baths of Mehadia. 
 
 The Zeriny looked duly astonished ; and on 
 the whole, enacted her part with much naivete 
 and effect. She suffered her automaton to ad- 
 vance a few ordinary and approved objections, 
 in order that they might be overruled by his 
 auditors ; and she finally consented with amiable 
 reluctance, to a plan which had been peculiarly 
 and exclusively her own. lolina, averse from 
 all exertion, languid and dispirited, was about 
 to plead for delay ; when she perceived upon the 
 brow of Princess Betthyani so unequivocal an 
 expression of satisfaction, that she knew not 
 how to oppose a measure which appeared to 
 secure the cordial approbation of her friend. 
 The source of this approbation she however 
 found it difficult to determine ; for she knew 
 that the age and infirmities of the Prince ren- 
 dered it impossible for him to leave Pesth, even 
 
CASSIAN. 119 
 
 to inhabit his summer palace ; and she wa^ 
 equally well aware that no personal temptations 
 would induce Sidonia to desert him to the care 
 of others. Whatever might be the motives of 
 her feeling, lolina was satisfied that they were 
 good and honourable, and she was therefore 
 content to acquiesce in her wishes. Every pre- 
 liminary was speedily arranged : and in the 
 course of a few days, the Baroness had the 
 satisfaction of taking a pathetic leave of her 
 husband, and of setting off, attended by an 
 extensive suite, upon her long and tedious 
 journey. 
 
 Few save those who, for their sins, have been 
 condemned to traverse the most uncivilized coun- 
 tries, — whose curiosity has been directed tow^ards 
 Timbuctoo, or across the wilds of the Andes, — 
 can imagine the inconveniences and mischances 
 attendant on an expedition into the interior of 
 Hungary. Forced to rely for horses upon a 
 forespann order, — a certificate obtained from the 
 governor of the district, which compels the re- 
 luctant peasant to unyoke his team from plouoh or 
 
120 CASSIAN. 
 
 harvest-waggon, to forsake his fields at the most 
 critical periods of agricultural labour, and convey- 
 some indifferent traveller to the distance of twenty 
 or thirty miles, without even a stated reward, — 
 obliged to traverse a country destitute of inns or 
 decent food, and upon roads which might evoke 
 the manes of General Wade to define their 
 " whereabout," lolina learned to look forward 
 to their arrival at Mehadia, as a release from 
 actual suffering. 
 
 Theresianopel, whose name sufficiently certifies 
 the auspices under which its foundations were 
 laid, and whose thriving aspect forms a cheerful 
 contrast with the surrounding wastes, afforded 
 the traveDers a brief release from the wretched 
 hamlets and degraded provincial towns through 
 which their route was appointed. Here and there 
 a chateau, dark and savage as the Herrschaft to 
 whom it gave a name, with the dilapidated walls 
 of its Thiergarten, and the overgrown copses of its 
 pheasantry, enlivened the dreary extent of the 
 Fusztas^y by whose treeless wastes it was encom- 
 
 Pusztas, cattle-farms, — literally, uninhabited countries. 
 
CASSIAN. 121 
 
 passed, and displayed in still more revolting pro- 
 minence, the filthy hovels whose squalor reeked 
 beside its gates. Even the details of rural 
 economy which, in other countries, lend life and 
 liveliness to the varying pictures of a summer's 
 journey, do but serve in Hungary to oppress the 
 observing mind with unavailing compassion for 
 the condition of that valuable class throu^rh 
 whose means they are effected. The sign and 
 the sound of bondage prevail through the land ; 
 and it is plainly manifest that the hearts of the 
 Pharaohs by whom it is upheld, are hardened 
 beyond the touch of mercy. The sweat upon 
 labour's swarthy brow becomes unsightly, when 
 we know that it flows for a savage taskmaster ; 
 and the harvests which spread their golden trea- 
 sures only to enrich the garners of the mighty 
 ones of the land, forfeit half the claims of their 
 waving beauty. 
 
 There are no song-birds pouring out their 
 thrilling music to the early sunshine, — no haw- 
 thorn hedges bursting into blossomed fragrance, 
 — no sunny slopes bright with the dazzling hues 
 
 G 
 
122 CASSIAN. 
 
 of a thousand flowers, or green with the promise of 
 " a dinner of herbs." The monotonous sameness 
 of the villages, and a total want of individuality 
 in the regular and sightly habitations of the for- 
 mal streets by which they are divided, betray 
 them at once to be colonies formed by the rich 
 for the wretched objects of their exaction and 
 slaves of their will, rather than strong-holds of 
 fair, and free, and successful industry, — such as 
 adorn the woody glades of our own blessed coun- 
 try. So exactly does " half the platform just 
 reflect the other," so precisely is every whitened 
 and reed-thatched abode fashioned like unto its 
 neighbour, and so accurately distributed are the 
 dimensions of the paled stack-yards by which 
 they are divided, that any but the actual inhabi- 
 tants must be puzzled to ascertain their identity. 
 *' New^ Harmony" might have been built upon the 
 model of an Hungarian settlement ; and even the 
 least enthusiastic worshippers of the picturesque, 
 could scarcely gaze upon such dull formality with- 
 out sighing for a little dilapidation to vary its 
 unmeaning generalities. 
 
CASSIAN. 123 
 
 At the extremity of the vast plains they were 
 obliged to traverse, the two ladies of Zeriny 
 hailed with delight the stern fortifications of 
 Temesvar, — that terror of the Turkish arms ; 
 and having paused within its gloomy walls for 
 rest and refreshment, — till the tuck of drum, 
 renewed " from morn to night, from night to dewy 
 morn," ^' cried sleep no more to all the house," — 
 they set forth with renewed courage ; and on the 
 following day, reposed themselves in the green 
 seclusion of Mehadia. 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 Un sejour de bains; — lieu de toute la terre ou les desceuvres 
 font le plus grievement supporter aux autres, tout le poids de leur 
 inutilite. 
 
 Le PaiNCE DE LiGNE. 
 
 A GENERAL resemblance, — an air of con acqui- 
 nity — prevails among all bathing places through- 
 out the world; — from Leamington and Brighton, 
 to Lucca and Mehadia. The same pretext of 
 infirm health, — the same indulgence in frivolous 
 diversions in order to get rid of that superfluity 
 of time which the rich and idle have wandered 
 so far to dispose of, — the same busy idleness, — 
 marks the progress of the long, listless summer 
 day. 
 
 Indifferent acquaintances are endured in such 
 a region, in consideration of the brevity of the 
 
CASSIAN. 125 
 
 connexion. Excursions are planned to enliven 
 the dulness of ill-assorted society, whose heavy 
 festivities are barely borne to an end, but which 
 are afterwards quoted as among the unrecallable 
 pleasures of the season. Some doubtful antiquity 
 is visited, and prorwy and raved over, by those 
 who, in Paris or Vienna, would not desert their 
 fauteuils to look upon the Beautiful Gate of the 
 Temple, or muse among the Ruins of Balbek ; 
 and connexions the most unworthy are formed in 
 mere self-weariness, and perhaps stimulated by 
 the babbling of calumny into utter shamelessness. 
 Time and money are wasted in the acquirement 
 of toys, the baubles of an hour ; — private thea- 
 tricals, of which the tragedy consists in the mar- 
 tyrdom of the victims under the sneers of their 
 friends, and the comedy in their contented self- 
 exposure, — bands of discordant music, and wit- 
 less puppets, — a few princes sick of petty sove- 
 reignty, — a king or two, flying from etiquette to 
 secret indulgence in coarse pleasures, — two or 
 three countesses weary of home and an empty 
 metropolis, who are gazed at and prated of, until 
 
126 CASSIAN. 
 
 their names become tarnished and besmirched 
 by constant use, — two or three noble libertines 
 who can but drink deeper, and riot more loudly, 
 and game more lavishly, in order to refine upon 
 their usual course of enjoyment, — and last, and 
 worst, and universally, — ennui in the full pomp 
 of his omnipotence ; — such are the characteristics 
 of a bathing place ! 
 
 Although partaking to a degree in all these 
 vices of vocation, the obscure baths of Mehadia 
 can boast of attractions superior to those of their 
 more popular rivals. Their remote locality in^ 
 sures them from the incursions of royal ennuyes 
 and ennuyants ; and Vice — who, when less pro- 
 fusely fed, cares not to display the ostentation of 
 her loathsome aspect, — shuns the seclusion of so 
 remote a region. Dulness is indeed the deadliest 
 sin that can be charged upon the Hungarian 
 Baden ; and its picturesque site, and interesting 
 relations with Turkey, — the untutored wildness 
 of its peasantry, and the authenticity of its 
 antiquities as a Roman bath, founded by the 
 Pannonians, offer some traits of originality to 
 
CASSIAN. 127 
 
 distinguish it from the palling routine of redout es 
 and tables d'hote. 
 
 The feebleness of lolina Zeriny's health 
 afforded the Baroness a reasonable plea for with- 
 drawing herself from the general society of the 
 baths ; which, to say the truth, partook but 
 indifferently of the illustrious character requisite 
 to secure her interest and participation. The 
 gouty Bishop of Erlau, dull and prosy as the 
 archives of his see, — two maiden Countesses of 
 the Erdbdy family, who had brought a paralytic 
 Pomeranian dog to prove the efficacy of the 
 springs, — a distinguished professor of the Uni- 
 versity of Pesth, whose society would have been 
 doubtfully tolerated in the capital, — such were 
 the personages who were so fortunate as to form 
 the knot of Zerinische exclusiveness, and to make 
 up the Baroness's nightly boston. But their 
 society was easy and unobtrusive, and devoid of 
 all excitement ; so that under the influence of its 
 gentle opiate, poor Ina's faded frame gradually 
 recovered its tone, and her spirit its patience ; 
 and so brightly did her sweet looks confirm her 
 
128 CASSIAN. 
 
 declarations of amended health, that the Countess 
 Maddalena no longer marvelled at the infatua- 
 tion which, as her friend the Baroness confided 
 to her ear, had induced one of the loftiest of the 
 Magyai to court her refusal of his coronet during 
 the preceding carnival. 
 
 But the period of their sojourn in this isolated 
 spot soon began to wax wearisome to one who 
 had so little part in its ordinary diversions as 
 Iblina ; — the even tenour of whose life was unen- 
 livened save by occasional letters from the 
 animated pen of Princess Betthyani, — and who 
 missed those casual mentions of the name of 
 Cassian, which the inquiries of their daily visitors 
 in Pesth were sure to elicit for her information 
 and comfort. The monotony of her existence at 
 Mehadia was destined however to an early inter- 
 ruption. In the pause of an arduous deal, the 
 mild Bishop acquainted them one evening that 
 the reprouve, Count Lingotski, was hourly ex- 
 pected at the hotel of the Churfilrsten, from his 
 chateau on the Platen See, or Balaton Lake ; 
 and on the following day, the Countesses Mad- 
 
CASSIAN. 129 
 
 dalena and Dorottya confirmed this pleasing 
 intelligence, by a declaration of having witnessed 
 his entry into the town. 
 
 Baroness Zeriny, aifecting an indifference on 
 the subject which her intimacy with his sister 
 rendered somewhat suspicious, took no measures 
 of politeness towards the Count ; and declared 
 her intention of avoiding all acquaintance with 
 one so out of sorts with courtly favour as 
 Lingotski. By this manege, she succeeded in 
 exciting an interest in his favour with her niece ; 
 and when on their succeeding visit to the spring, 
 lolina found occasion to observe the remarkable 
 I'esemblance between Sidonia and her brother, 
 and to admire the careless grace and personal 
 beauty of the young Count, she was almost 
 tempted to regret the seclusion which removed 
 her from the possibility of becoming better ac- 
 quainted with one who singularly recalled the 
 image of her absent friend. 
 
 If Princess Betthyani's person could claim the 
 minute captivations of a fairy queen, the Count 
 might boast of the same regularity of features, the 
 g2 
 
I3Q CASSIAN. 
 
 same fascinating expression, expanded into a shew 
 of manly dignity ; and lolina marvelled, as she 
 traced the precious resemblance, at the total 
 absence of that fierceness, and that hauteur, 
 which she had attributed to the mental picture of 
 her friend's brother. Those who find the leopard 
 sleeping among the flowers of a jungle, are thus 
 tempted to admire the beauty of its spots, and 
 the sleekness of its skin, without terror of its 
 slumbering ferocity ! 
 
 The young Count appeared unwilling to weaken 
 the favourable impression he had made, by a 
 closer inspection ; for during many days, he 
 forbore to profit by that usage of foreign baths 
 which permits the latest visitor to force his ac- 
 quaintance upon his predecessors ; and the 
 Countesses Erdody were enabled to enlarge 
 every evening upon the relation of his early 
 excesses, to opine concerning his present amend- 
 ment, and to predict his accession to their select 
 coterie ; and still, — he came not. Se laisser 
 chercher appeared as much his device as that of 
 the Baroness j but the dignity of the latter 
 
CASSIAN. 131 
 
 eventually gave way to her policy, and she as- 
 sumed a winning frankness in inviting him to her 
 apartments, *^ in order to talk of Sidonia, and to 
 abuse the dulness of Mehadia." 
 
 Lingotski could not fail to accept the chal- 
 lenge. He came, — and an air of natural high 
 breeding which advantageously replaced in his 
 demeanour the common forms of worldly polite- 
 ness, completed the conquest he had made of the 
 noble damsels Maddalena and Dorottya, — of the 
 Bishop and the Baroness. But while they were 
 graciously occupied in the examination of his 
 character and address, his own exclusive atten- 
 tion was directed towards the fair and faded 
 creature who took so little share in their officious 
 welcome ; and who never raised her eyes towards 
 him, save when awaiting his reply to the Ba- 
 roness's anxious inquiries after the health of her 
 " dear Princess. " 
 
 The character of lolina Zeriny's beauty was 
 indeed rendered doubly attractive by the delicacy 
 of recent indisposition. Her complexion, by na- 
 ture '^ 'piu bianca di gigUoj^ shone out like snow 
 
132 CASSIAN. 
 
 against the raven braids that bound her brow ; — 
 and her looks, which had been so long shrouded 
 in the wintry mists of sadness, burst like the sun- 
 shine of early spring from the clouds of a lower- 
 ing sky, when calle L upon by the beloved brother 
 of Sidonia, to speak of her, — of her young son, 
 and of their mutual affection. 
 
 Count Lingotski was more than commonly 
 open to the power of female fascination. He had 
 been long secluded from all society fitting his 
 degree ; and except during one discontented winter 
 at Vienna, he had never acquainted himself with 
 the conventional forms of the great world. But 
 that very winter, that solitary season of dissi- 
 pation, had done much towards the formation of 
 his character ; had inspired him with unqualified 
 disgust for the profligacy, — the shameless profli- 
 gacy of the high-born Austrian dames who had 
 been rivals for his smiles, — and had determined 
 him to confide the keeping of his honour to more 
 guileless hands, and the rule of his affections to 
 none but the most simple and unpractised heart. 
 In gazing with unreserved delight upon the love- 
 
CASSIAN. 133 
 
 liness of lolina, he did not however entertain 
 for a single moment the thought of finding the 
 gifts he held so precious in one of her condition 
 of life. The niece and daug-hter of the mer- 
 chants Zeriny held no place in his estimation, 
 save as the ill chosen friend of a sister whom he 
 fondly cherished ; and blinded by this delusive 
 view of the subject, he permitted himself to sit 
 long hours by her side, — gazing upon her melan- 
 choly beauty, — developing the gentle purity of 
 her character, — and learning, with devoted blind- 
 ness, the sweetest and most ineffaceable lessons 
 of love. 
 
 While he affected to give his attention to the 
 diffuse sentimentality of the Baroness, he con- 
 tinued to hang unobserved over the embroidery 
 frame where lolina wasted her listless hours, — 
 diligent and silent as a nun ; and one look from 
 her intelligent face, when at length she lifted it 
 from her work, appeared to reward his devoted 
 patience. Nor did he lack pretexts for insinu- 
 ating himself more closely into a society which, 
 without avowing it to himself, he already held 
 
134 CASSIAN. 
 
 SO precious. He affected to discover that the 
 Demoiselle Zeriny's health required a more easy- 
 mode of exercise than that afforded by the char 
 a bancs of the place ; and boasting himself as the 
 most expert and careful charioteer of all Hungary, 
 he was admitted to the honour of driving the 
 Baroness and lolina in his tiny Britschka ; of 
 conducting them to the shadiest spots in the 
 forest, the finest positions upon the shores of the 
 Danube. He obtained permission for them to 
 visit the Turkish island and its fortress ; and had 
 the address to become their Dragoman during 
 their interview with its Commandant, — a native 
 Walachian prince; — to whose state apartments 
 "they were compelled to ascend by a ladder resem- 
 bling that of a pigeon-house, and whose chief 
 officers pestered them, even in the veiy presence 
 of his Highness, for a pecuniary acknowledg- 
 ment of their trouble in conducting them over 
 the fortifications. It was upon this occasion 
 that the unequivocal signs of personal admiration 
 with which Prince Reidza perniitted himself to 
 address the fair Hungarian whose curiosity had 
 
CASSIAN. 135 
 
 apparently betrayed her into his presence, roused 
 in the mind of Lingotski such feehngs of rage 
 and indignation, as served to unveil, even to 
 himself, the true nature of his sentiments towards 
 her; and startled, dismayed, and discontented, 
 he strove for a time to withdraw himself from the 
 dan2:er of her attractions. 
 
 The Countesses Dorottya and Maddalena, and 
 the gouty prelate, whose hoston had suffered 
 material interruption through the caprices and 
 projects of the young Count, began to whisper 
 together, and hint and murmur concerning the 
 views of their dear politic Baroness ; and had 
 not poor Ina's retired simplicity and unchanged 
 sadness re-assured them on the subject, they 
 would have been apt to predict a grievous 
 mesalliance between the descendant of an inter- 
 minable line of Magyar pride, and the pitiful 
 rejeton of mercantile dishonour. A marriage 
 of any kind filled them with indignation and evil 
 forebodings ; and an union like this was calcu- 
 lated to inspire them with a most Cassandrian 
 spirit of prophecy in their confidential correspon- 
 
136 CASSIAN. 
 
 dence with their friends in Pesth. They failed 
 not to predict a revolution, and the overthrow of 
 throne and altar in Hungary, if such a departure 
 from national usage, and such a breach of aris- 
 tocratic privilege were sanctioned by public 
 endurance. 
 
 • In very different terms did Princess Betthyani 
 allude to the report in her letters to lolina. ''I 
 will not conceal from you," she wrote, " that since 
 the dissolution of your engagement with Cassian 
 Zeriny, I have entertained no fonder hope than 
 that of seeing you become the bride of my brother. 
 You are the first and only woman towards whom 
 I have felt as much ; nor do I entertain doubt or 
 fear on the subject, save of Sigmond's worthiness 
 to call you his. His faults however are those of 
 his nation; and he has virtues all his own." 
 
 The perusal of this lettter failed not to awaken 
 the deepest emotions in lolina's perplexed bosom ; 
 and to direct her attention to many daily occur- 
 rences which had hitherto appeared ordinary and 
 uninteresting. But she was now too painfully 
 sensitive to the meanness of her origin and the 
 
CASSIAN. 137 
 
 poorness of her pretensions, to give much faith 
 to Sidonia's predictions ; and in her reply, she 
 pointed out in forcible language to her flattering 
 correspondent, the impassable distance between 
 herself and Count Lingotski, and the insuperable 
 obstacle formed to such a marriage by her own pre- 
 engaged affections. *' I trust, however," added 
 she, "that without treachery to him who has cast 
 me off, to him who is too deeply engrossed by the 
 pleasures of Vienna to waste one thought on 
 lolina, I may acknowledge how much I am struck 
 by the appearance of candour and firmness in the 
 character of my supposed admirer. With Count 
 Lingotski, the sentence of the world, and the 
 vulgar clamours of society, appear to weigh no 
 more than the feeble whistlings of the wind 
 among the branches of a mighty oak. At times 
 I read in his eyes a terrible expression of stern- 
 ness of purpose, and irrevocability of resolution ; 
 and I, who have suffered so bitterly from the con- 
 sequences of timidity of mind, am perhaps in- 
 duced to overrate the merits of one of more 
 powerful texture. Have I not reason, dear 
 
138 CASSIAN. 
 
 Sidonia, to detest all appearance of a conciliatory 
 policy V 
 
 The comments of Princess Betthyani, and her 
 announcement of the prevailing opinion respect- 
 ing Lingotski's attachment, in imparting to loli- 
 na's address an air of embarrassment and con- 
 straint, did but enhance her captivations in the 
 eyes of her lover. It was no great stretch of 
 presumption to attribute the deep suffusion which 
 dyed her cheeks on his approach, to a secret predi- 
 lection in his favour ; and her faltering voice, 
 and the consciousness with which she avoided 
 his society, led him to believe, long ere he had 
 sufficiently conquered his scruples to seek the 
 sanction of the Baroness to his courtship of her 
 niece, that lolina's heart was all his own. 
 
 In the meantime, the Zeriny was not idle in 
 her vocation. Every evening the wondering Do- 
 rottya found herself compelled to listen to the 
 eloquent harangues of maternal fondness with 
 which her friend set forth the agonies endured 
 during her separation from an only and most 
 beloved son ; which were directed to other and 
 
CASSIAN. 139 
 
 far more attentive ears. Sometimes the Baroness 
 would extol her own magnanimity in her re- 
 nouncement of the society of her Cassian ; and 
 then, with many tears, lament that a combination 
 of untoward circumstances should have driven 
 him into exile, and destroyed the happiness of 
 his parents ; — sometimes she would enlarge upon 
 the happiness and respectability of conventional 
 marriages, and upbraid with indelicacy all volun- 
 tary attachments, unsanctioned by the custom of 
 the land, or the decencies of feminine reserve. 
 The Erlau Eminence confirmed her orations by 
 the trite maxims of his dull experience ; and the 
 twin Countesses found themselves compelled to 
 add their approving nods to many a striking in- 
 stance of the varying destinies of first and second 
 love, which time had rendered " labour lost," as 
 far as regarded themselves; and their admiring 
 acclamations, to the fervour with which the Ba- 
 roness described the inward sense of elevation, 
 the mental beatitude of those who are summoned 
 from a lowly to a high estate, with all its privi- 
 leges of benevolence and affability. 
 
140 CASSIAN. 
 
 To such vile cant and shallow arguments, the 
 ears of lolina were as those of the adder, — 
 wisely stopped ; but there were others of a more 
 individual and touching nature, which found her 
 a willing auditress. 
 
 '' I have no tidings of my son," murmured Ba- 
 roness Zeriny, after audibly directing the inquiries 
 of her heiduckj and publicly receiving his nega- 
 tive. *' Five weeks have elapsed since I learned 
 aught of Cassian's movements. Unhappy they 
 who must trust to the caprices of the tides and 
 winds for intelligence of that which is dearest to 
 them upon earth \" 
 
 lolina rose, and attempted by gazing on some 
 distant speck of the atmosphere, to prevent her 
 tears from falling ; but the Baroness tenderly fol- 
 lowed her retreating step ; and after a symphony 
 of heavy sighs by way of ritournelle to her plain- 
 tive romance, she renewed her strain. 
 
 " Princess Ronskalonska was observing to me 
 yesterday as we drove through the forest, that 
 an only son, — one at least situated like mine, 
 rather serves to embitter than endear existence \ 
 
CASSIAN. 141 
 
 and I sometimes fear myself, that my poor 
 Zeriny's grey hairs will be laid in the grave with- 
 out his being again blessed by the sight of the 
 darling of his old age." 
 
 " Is my uncle suffering from indisposition?" 
 " 'No love, not at present. But Cassian in 
 his last letter assured me that no persuasions 
 should induce him to return to Hungary so long 
 
 as, that is — till — till another choice had 
 
 rendered his home — but pardon me ! I forget 
 to whom I am speaking." 
 
 ^' You do not forget, madam," said lolina 
 gravely, but not reproachfully. '^ You do but 
 remember, well and wisely, to school me to the 
 execution of a difficult duty; — even that of be- 
 stowing upon one whose noble disinterestedness 
 might claim more candour at my hands, the boon 
 of a withered heart, and a beggared" — 
 
 ^' Hush ! lolina !" interrupted the Baroness, 
 '^ I must not hear you thus underrate your claims, 
 and pervert my meaning. When Count Zichy 
 applied to your uncle for your hand, previous to 
 our leaving Pesth, did he, or did I attempt to 
 influence your choice?" 
 
142 CASSIAN. 
 
 " Count Zichy, madam, is an almost acknow- 
 ledged idiot." 
 
 " His estates in Moravia do not the less form a 
 petty sovereignty ; and his father, as the second 
 noble in Hungary, was one of the three commis- 
 sioners appointed to receive the Regalia from 
 the representative of the Emperor Joseph." 
 
 lolina raised her shoulder with a gesture of 
 compassion. 
 
 *' Yet I refrained from one pleading word in 
 his favour ! I will not however promise the same 
 self-denial with regard to Lingotski; for I own 
 that his frank temper and spirited demeanour 
 have warmly interested me in his destiny. His 
 brusquerie, which is a mere evidence of his 
 single-hearted sincerity, — his lavish disinterested- 
 ness, — his proud nationality, — do but heighten 
 the influence of his fine countenance and com- 
 manding figure. No! lolina— ask me not to 
 be indifferent to your opinion of the noble Sig- 
 mond Lingotski." 
 
 " If it be your pleasure. Madam, to know it, 
 let me frankly acknowledge it to be of a most 
 
CASSIAN. 143 
 
 flattering character. Were it not for an occa- 
 sional glance of ferocity in those dark eyes, and 
 a slight betrayal of self-value, and haughty reck- 
 lessness, I feel that I could as willingly adopt 
 Count Lingotski for a brother, as I should delight 
 to name Sidonia, my most beloved sister." 
 
 '^ A mere phrase, — and one too that deceives 
 no one, lolina. Either you love him, or you love 
 him not," said the Baroness, provoked beyond her 
 line of policy. 
 
 ^'Then most unequivocally, I do not, dear 
 aunt. Perhaps the indolent lassitude of our 
 Southern lordlings, perhaps the w^avering cautious- 
 ness of one who has been very dear to me, have 
 induced me to consider with undue admiration 
 the Count's bold, ardent frame of mind ; but his 
 best qualities are not calculated either to win 
 esteem, or waken love." 
 
 *' Love /" repeated the indignant Baroness. 
 '* Love ! — a word which at your age had never 
 passed my lips, — can scarcely be awakened with 
 safety or propriety, except under the sanction, and 
 in the seclusion of married life. My trust in 
 Lingo tsl^" — 
 
144 CASSIAN. 
 
 " For pity's sake, dear madam, do not name 
 him as connected with such a subject; I have no 
 reason to imagine that the Count wishes to influ- 
 ence our theories." 
 
 *' You cannot affect to be ignorant that he has 
 long retained me as his advocate, and secured 
 your uncle's approval of his suit ? — and that such 
 an alliance can be regarded but as an undue 
 honour and distinction vouchsafed to the Zeriny 
 family." 
 
 " I misdoubted me of this," murmured lolina, 
 turning very pale, and resting her head on the 
 two fair arms stretched upon the table before her ; 
 and, after a pause of some minutes, uplifting it 
 bathed in tears. " Have you heard aught from 
 the Princess, madam, concerning this wretched 
 project; — does she, — can she desire to inflict that 
 injury upon a brother so beloved?" 
 
 " I have received, by the courier of to-day, a 
 diffuse declaration of her unqualified approval ; 
 a declaration, which her peculiarly delicate posi- 
 tion between the parties, alone prevented her 
 from addressing to yourself. '^ She must be my 
 
CASSIAN. 145 
 
 sister," is Sidonia's expression. " She has long- 
 held that place in my affection; and now, let 
 lolina write herself a Lingotski, let her restore 
 the man who loves her to society and to his better 
 self, or prepare to forfeit all my confidence in 
 her generosity of mind." 
 
 '^ In how many days can I receive the Princess's 
 answer to a letter I would gladly address to her ?" 
 inquired lolina with a look of vague terror. 
 
 ^' By estafette, in six." 
 
 " The courier of the day, madam, will suffice 
 my wishes, if you will undertake to avert, durmg 
 the interim, all explanation with the Count." 
 
 Baroness Zeriny readily engaged herself to 
 fulfil the wishes of her niece in both instances ; 
 and no time was lost in expediting the following 
 letter. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 E questa I'ora, e questa 
 
 Che a te non lice piu ingannar te stessa 
 
 Ne altrui. 
 
 Alfieri. 
 
 "Thou hast threatened, Sidonia, to dismiss me 
 from thy friendship, if I consent not to become 
 thy brother's wife. Is this generous? — is it true 
 to him, to me, to thyself? If any can be aware 
 how early my affections were bestowed upon my 
 cousin Cassian, it is thou ; if any can estimate 
 how fondly, how wholly, they were granted, — 
 how painfully resumed, it is only thou, Sidonia. 
 Yet thou wouldst have me grant unto a brother 
 whom thou cherishest, a heart thus worn and 
 wounded by sorrow, — thus bitterly rejected; — 
 thou wouldst have me lay bare that suffering 
 
CASSIA N. 147 
 
 bosom which hath long been shrinking from a 
 world in which it trusted its breathino- mio;ht 
 prove brief! Thou w^ouldst have me surrender to 
 his scrutiny a mind haunted by remembrances of 
 another, — stung into misanthropy by a sense of 
 humiliation, — and deprived of those fervid hopes, 
 — of that trust in human excellence, — so requi- 
 site to cheer and irradiate the path of wedded 
 hfe. 
 
 '^ I cannot do this ! I cannot so abuse a noble 
 nature ; or recompense a disinterested attach- 
 ment by such unworthy duplicity. My heart 
 knows not to retain one shadow of falsehood and 
 be at peace ; — like the glass of Venice, it would 
 break rather than retain the ' leprous distil- 
 ment/ 
 
 *^ Yet believe me not ungrateful, dearest Sido- 
 nia, for the generous preference with which I am 
 distinguished by the Count ; nor insensible to 
 the happiness of being akin to those of his blood, 
 or the honour of bearing a name so lofty in 
 the records of the land. I do not ungraciously 
 estimate, nor would rashly reject a connexion 
 
148 CASSIAN. 
 
 which, in gifting me with a home and a protector 
 would seal the happiness of many who are dear to 
 me. I have been slow to believe in the existence 
 of Lingotski's attachment ; but since I can no 
 longer doubt that it is his intention to seek me in 
 marriage, I will not by a mis-timed delicacy 
 delay an explanation which will probably influ- 
 ence his views ; and it is to my best and kindest 
 friend I turn for aid and counsel in my difficul- 
 ties. Resolved as I am that perfect candour 
 shall be between us, yet can I not gather courage 
 to speak to him of Cassian ; or to betray with 
 ray own lips the weakness of my own heart ; and 
 it is from thyself only that Lingotski must learn 
 that I have been already loved, and have loved in 
 return ; — that my lip hath already breathed 
 words of tenderness to other ears ; — nay more, — 
 hath received the fond impress of mutual affec- 
 tion, — that impress which once bestowed should 
 be for ever holy ! 
 
 " I see thee start Sidonia ; — I see thee revile 
 me with an outrage of maidenly reserve. But is 
 not this better than an artful concealment between 
 
CASSIAN. 149 
 
 two persons who are about to swear eternal truth 
 and mutual confidence ? About to swear, did I 
 say? No! dearest Princess; — I feel that Sig- 
 mond will recoil from planting his" foot in the 
 desart I have opened to his gaze, — will shun to 
 place the withered branch within his bosom 
 whose flowers have been already gathered ; and 
 though I trust he hath sufficient confidence in 
 the mercy of Heaven to believe that there is no 
 growth of human passion that may defv the 
 control of human will, and sufficient faith in 
 lolina's truth to know that no consideration 
 would induce her to pronounce her marriage vow 
 with a divided heart, — yet I feel that I am 
 henceforward secure from his addresses. But I 
 shall equally escape the reproaches of my own 
 heart, and the distrust of my best Sidonia ; and 
 in this precious persuasion, I implore her to be 
 promptly and perfectly candid in her explana- 
 tions, and to do justice, without delay, to a 
 brother whom she loves, 
 
 loLINA ZeRINY." 
 
150 CASSIAN. 
 
 This epistle once dispatched, its gentle writer 
 assumed her ordinary tone of composure. Count 
 Lingotski was indeed somewhat startled on per- 
 ceiving that her former trepidation whenever he 
 approached had subsided into a confiding calm- 
 ness ; but notwithstanding the various emotions 
 which her altered manner of receiving his atten- 
 tions roused within his heart, he suffered himself 
 to be dissuaded by the plausible Baroness from 
 seeking an explanation. Another week was 
 permitted to elapse in green-wood feastings, — in 
 moonlight excursions upon the Danube, — in ar- 
 chery and serenades, and the representations of 
 tableaux and ballads, and all those idle recreations 
 which the impassioned fancy of a lover can sug- 
 gest; and still, the wishes and the hopes which 
 dwelt in his heart, were not permitted to pass his 
 lips ; and in the bright pictures he delighted to 
 draw in her hearing of his Transylvanian palace 
 and future home, the image of lolina was never 
 expressly included. 
 
 At length an affectionate but inexplicit answer 
 arrived from Princess Betthyani, inclosing a 
 
CASSIAN. 151 
 
 mysterious packet for her brother ; and whatever 
 its contents might have been, they certainly gave 
 rise to no very perplexing considerations ; for on 
 the very same evening, Lingotski sought the 
 trembling girl as she sat beneath the quivering 
 shade of a group of beech trees that adorned 
 the garden of the house, and frankly, — perhaps 
 abruptly, — demanded the long coveted gift of 
 her hand and heart. 
 
 " I am not skilled in German courtesies," said 
 the young Count, in a tone of the deepest feeling. 
 ^' The sovran throne, at whose feet I have been 
 nurtured, stands in the depths of the green-wood ; 
 and my lessons of chivalry have been conned 
 amid the wild Walachian camps. Such as I 
 am, — a plain, rude man, — but honest and true 
 and devoted, take me, — or tell me that my des- 
 tinies are less happily appointed. Tell me that 
 my rough nature may not be soothed by thy sweet 
 companionship, lolina ; that thy grace will not 
 stoop to temper my savage existence, — and I will 
 away again to the wastes of my solitude, and 
 seek consolation in their loneliness." 
 
152 CASSIAN. 
 
 He spoke firmly; but the tears glittered in his 
 full proud eyes at the very sounds he had nerved 
 himself to utter. There is perhaps no homage so 
 precious to a woman as the unwonted emotion of 
 a stern mind, — the subjection of a manly charac- 
 ter; such a tribute is at once flattering and 
 touching. 
 
 " I had trusted," said lolina faintly, " that 
 Sidonia's letter would have given a new impulse 
 to your intentions." 
 
 '^ Not a whit, — not by the weight of a grain 
 of sand. Rather hath it confirmed them a 
 thousand-fold." 
 
 '' And can you, — conscious that I confess 
 myself unable at present to return your predi- 
 lection, — can you be content with the gift of my 
 sisterly regard ; — can you wish me to become 
 your wife?" 
 
 *' Now blessings on thee for a word I have not 
 yet dared to utter; — blessings on thee for thine 
 explicit candour. I do — I do" — exclaimed 
 Sigmond with vehemence, *' Little know they, or 
 lightly prize, the sweetest attributes of woman- 
 
CASSIAN. 153 
 
 hood, who would wish to find love matured in a 
 maidenly bosom. Be it my enchanting task to 
 plant it there, dearest lolina, in the confiding 
 happiness of our future life ; and oh ! how pure, 
 how bright will be its dawning in the sweet 
 summer of our wedded happiness; — with what 
 entire and grateful devotion will it be hailed by 
 him whose whole existence will be insufficient to 
 repay the blessing. Yes ! lolina," continued he 
 folding her hand within his own, " when its first 
 sweet ray breaks upon Sigmond, thou wilt find 
 him a very Persian in his worship." 
 
 lolina Zeriny shrinking from his touch, uttered 
 a sigh of deep despair. She paused to collect 
 breath and courage, for she felt that both were 
 deserting her ; but the indecision of manner 
 arising from the use of a foreign idiom, —for 
 Lingotski, contrary to the usage of his castey 
 affected the Hungarian dialect, — imparted to her 
 address a character of emotion rather than of 
 sufFerino;. 
 
 " I cannot — cannot believe it," — said she, as 
 if thinking aloud. ^^ It is impossible that I 
 
154 CASSIAN. 
 
 should have so mistaken his character, or that so 
 proud a heart should seek me under circum- 
 stances so painfully humiliating." 
 
 "■ Do not thus undervalue thy sweet self," 
 whispered the Count, mistaking her meaning. 
 " Thinkest thou that any brow as fair blushes 
 under the weight of an Austrian coronet; — that 
 any heart as pure beats amid the dishonoured 
 corruption of Vienna ? Can even thine own 
 bright Italy shew a step more full of grace, — an 
 air more delicately feminine ? No !" continued 
 he, bending humbly before her, and speaking 
 with more intense fervour, '^ thou canst not 
 affect to doubt the beauty of thy cheek, — • 
 the high intelligence of thy spirit, — the pure 
 unworldliness of thy heart; — and what more 
 can man require in her whom he would fold 
 in wedded faith to a confiding bosom, — what 
 more can Lingotski ask in one w^hose excellence 
 were ill-exchanged for the unseemly warmth of 
 passion ?" 
 
 lolina attempted no reply to such flattering 
 protestations ; but she turned involuntarily from 
 
CASSIAN. 159 
 
 among the parties that, as the pecuHar and 
 most delicate political position of the Count for- 
 bade him to court publicity, and that as the lowly- 
 condition of his affianced bride demanded little 
 of the pomp and circumstance of glorious wed- 
 lock, their marriage should be celebrated at Lin- 
 gotski's chateau on the Platen See; whither 
 Princess Betthyani might adjoin for the ceremony, 
 and whence the Baroness might accompany her 
 on her return to Pesth. This arrang;ement, the 
 inforaiality of which elicited many shrugs from 
 the Countesses Maddalena and Dorottya, afforded 
 some relief to lolina's dread of observation, as 
 w^ell as to Lingotski's anxiety to avoid the formal- 
 ities and irritations of the capital ; and both were 
 well content to acquiesce in the wishes of Ba- 
 roness Zeriny that her three Mehadian insepara- 
 bles should accompany them in their journey, and 
 assist at the ensuing ceremony. Ere a fortnight 
 had elapsed from the receipt of Sidonia's letter, 
 the whole party was settled in the castle of Lm- 
 gotski, situated amid the choicest scenery of the 
 lake of Balaton, 
 
160 CASSIAN. 
 
 However engrossed in personal considerations 
 and harassed by hurry and anxiety, lolina 
 Zeriny could not be wholly insensible to the 
 magnificence of her future home, or to the defe- 
 rence with which the Count had established the 
 order of her welcome. With delicate tact, he 
 had avoided all appearance of particularizing her 
 from the rest of the little society ; but her tastes 
 had been affectionately consulted, and served 
 with a silent ministry. The flowers she loved, 
 the books she preferred, the musical instruments 
 in whose touch she excelled, had been procured 
 through Sidonia's agency, to adorn her apart- 
 ment ; the yacht which bore them over the calm 
 waters of the lake, displayed her colours ; the 
 villagers of Lingotski in strewing their path 
 towards the vessel with flowers, scattered roses 
 and everlastings only before lolina's steps ; — but 
 still, the Count presumed not to ofler his sup- 
 port to those feeble footsteps, nor to seat himself 
 by her side when the rude gusts descended from 
 the hills to fill their canvas, or rock their frail 
 bark. He was unwilling to intimidate by ofR- 
 
CASSIAN. 161 
 
 cioiis attentions, the regard and interest which he 
 trusted to win by a patient forbearance. 
 
 The castle w^as seated in bold prominence upon 
 a rocky shore, where the scenery of the lake 
 might claim exemption from its general character 
 of insipidity, and where the mischiefs arising 
 from the marshy lands in its vicinity were wholly 
 unfelt. The mansion, although vast and of 
 modern erection, appeared comfortless, and lack- 
 ing the distribution of female elegance; — its 
 principal charm indeed arose from the view com- 
 manded by its lofty windows along the glassy 
 expanse of blue waters, — whose calm outline was 
 broken only by the mountain island, of rock and 
 coppice, which like that of Lochleven, so strangely 
 lifts itself above the smooth bosom of the lake ; — 
 while the wild shriek of the water- fowl, or the 
 bell-like cry of the frogs chiming among the 
 bulrushes alone disturbed its lone and dignified 
 stillness. The Baroness, full of importance, occu- 
 pied herself in affecting to lead the rambles of 
 the party among the glorious avenues traversing 
 the oak forests by which the territories of the 
 
162 CASSIAN. 
 
 Count were enriched ; or in detaining their loiter- 
 ing footsteps among the splendid orangeries from 
 whose open doors espaliers bright with golden 
 fruit, extended their gorgeous alleys through the 
 trim gardens. 
 
 She planned excursions to the beautiful penin- 
 sular of Tihany ; she sufficiently overpowered 
 the terrors of the Erdody virgins to allure them 
 upon the lake in one of the canoes so ominously 
 named seel-trinkers or soul-swallowers, — and that 
 too at the dark hour of midnight, — in order to 
 watch the magical effect of the bonfires kindled 
 upon its shores as snares for the cray-fish. 
 
 One morning she insisted upon devoting to an 
 inspection of the family portraits adorning the 
 galleries and banquetting chamber, — an inspec- 
 tion which she knew would gratify the pride and 
 engross all the attention of the Count, whom she 
 forced to become their cicerone. Another, she 
 contrived to occupy in a visit to the snail and 
 tortoise-ground ; where Lingotski found himself 
 compelled to gratify the frivolous inquisitiveness 
 of the Bishop concerning the breeding and 
 
CASSIAN. 163 
 
 feeding and management of the reptiles so essen- 
 tial to the enjoyment of a German epicure ; while 
 Iblina was enabled to escape from their tedious 
 dulness, — to wander through the deserted gar- 
 dens, — and to ask of her own distrusting heart 
 whether it might ever enable her to interest her- 
 self in such details, and to assume, with becom- 
 ing pride, the high station to which she was sum- 
 moned by the devoted tenderness of Lingotski. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been said and 
 sung in honour of the retentive memory of Love, 
 and the peeans which have been hymned in cele- 
 bration of his constancy, I am little inclined to 
 beheve in the inexorcizeable properties of " Vami 
 secret r against which Lethe and the Red 
 Sea are supposed to be equally profitless. — 
 
 En songeant qu'il faut qu'on I'oublie, 
 On s'en souvient ! 
 
 says the song. But what says experience, what 
 says truth in such an exigency ? That to the 
 wase and resolute the act of foro;etfulness is 
 one of mere volition ; — that Love, uncherished 
 and unsupported by the sweet food of Hope, 
 
164 CASSIAN. 
 
 dies of famine ; and that those images which, 
 in good faith, we strive to banish from our 
 hearts, will soon relinquish their importunate 
 hold upon our imagination. Were our minds less 
 mercifully framed for fickleness and levity, many 
 a fate would close in darkness which a wiser dis- 
 pensation recalls into the sunshine of newer 
 hopes ; for few are the human beings who, in the 
 course of their earthly existence, are not com- 
 pelled by duty or wdsdom, or circumstances, 
 to renounce some cherished connexion, some 
 warmly-prized attachment. — Love, if immortal, 
 would be the worst of fiends. 
 
 From the moment that the gentle Iblina re- 
 signed her faith and her destiny into the hands of 
 Lingotski, she flung from her sight all records of 
 her early attachment, and diligently refrained 
 from even a transient indulgence in recollections 
 of the past ; and by the time her bridal prepara- 
 tions were completed, and the Princess, joyous, 
 and exulting, and affectionate, arrived to gladden 
 the marriage solemnities by her presence, the 
 timid lolina had succeeded in dismissing from 
 
CASSIAX. 165 
 
 her heart even^ feeling calculated to retard the 
 awakening influence of her future lord ; and 
 when Sidonia started at the sight of her pale 
 cheeks, and agitated countenance, she attributed 
 her emotion to a cause which had almost ceased 
 to exist, — and wholly ceased to exert an undue 
 empire over her mind. The Princess noted with 
 anxious regret that her young friend still ap- 
 peared lost in contemplation and reverie ; and 
 little imagined that her solitary reflections par- 
 took of a character far more flattering to her 
 future husband, than to her former lover. 
 
 lolinahad in truth few remembrances to cherish 
 which were favourable to her early attachment. 
 She could not but be sensible that her rights had 
 been undervalued by the Zeriny family ; and the 
 consciousness of injury serv^ed to enhance the 
 value of Sigmond Lingotski's disinterested pre- 
 ference ; — a preference which elevated both him 
 and herself in her own esteem. She had learned 
 to look upon the gift of affection as one of no 
 mean value ; and the prospect of finding her 
 future happiness dependent upon him who seemed 
 
166 CASSIAN. 
 
 to hold it so precious, instead of upon those 
 churlish, calculating hearts, which had hitherto 
 formed her sole reliance, cheered and consoled 
 her mind, and inspired it with many grateful 
 thoughts. 
 
 ^^ I fear me," thought lolina, '^ that my versa- 
 tility of feeling affords a powerful evidence of the 
 desolation of my existence ; and that the thank- 
 ful regard I am learning to entertain for Lingot- 
 ski, forms a bitter accusation against those who 
 should have stood by my helplessness with better 
 courage. But no matter ! Let me but learn to 
 love him, and I care not through what rude 
 channel the feeling may flow ; let me but acquire 
 the influence to subdue his untamed spirit into 
 the gentle charities of life, and my days will 
 brighten, and my heart forget its afflictions under 
 the mastery of holier feelings." 
 
 If the falsehood of her position and the seem- 
 ing hollo wness of her professions struck her with 
 consciousness or alarm, it was when Sidonia 
 pressed her to her heart in the fondness of sisterly 
 affection, and with the vehemence of her own 
 
CASSIAN. 167 
 
 misgoverned feelings. But the emotion was mo- 
 mentary ; for the accueil of the Princess pos- 
 sessed a cordiality so peculiar and so graceful, 
 that all the restraint of concealment, and all the 
 perplexity of doubt, appeared to vanish in her 
 presence. Possessed of the entire confidence of 
 each member of the little group assembled in the 
 castle, she knew how^ to determine every uncer- 
 tainty, and to assign to the conduct of each, such 
 motives as were most flattering and honourable. 
 The dulness which had overpowered the circle, 
 disappeared before her animated address and 
 cheerful self-reliance ,• while, — glancing lightly 
 over their difficulties, — resolving their doubts, — 
 and warmly seconding their expectations of future 
 happiness, — she appeared among them like a 
 second Providence. After a single day in Sido- 
 nia's society, the Baroness began to marvel how 
 she could have reproached herself with having 
 dealt harshly with her orphan niece ; — the Coun- 
 tesses Erdody learned to renounce their bigot- 
 heresies concerning mtsalUances in general, and 
 the Lord of Lingotski's in particular ; — Sig- 
 
168 CASSIAN. 
 
 mond himself abjured his last lingering doubt 
 of the tenderness of his bride ; — and the bride, 
 agitated and perplexed, taught herself to believe 
 the assurances of the Princess that her love for 
 Cassian had been imaginary, and that her attach- 
 ment for Lingotski would form the best blessing 
 of her existence. 
 
 The attention of the minor puppets of the 
 drama wsls fixed upon the paraphernalia of bridal 
 finery vs^hich the lavish hand and exquisite taste 
 of Sidonia had prepared for the occasion ; and 
 upon the matchless jewels which had been with- 
 drawn from the treasury of the Count at Szent 
 Miklos, to contrast their ponderous magnificence 
 of former fashion with the lighter elegance of 
 those which had been contributed from the most 
 fashionable Niederlagen of Vienna. 
 
 The increasing indisposition of Prince Bet- 
 thyani limited the absence of Sidonia ; and before 
 lolina had found time to relax from the excite- 
 ment afforded by the arrival of her beloved friend, 
 the solemn contract was signed, the solemn rite 
 pronounced by the august Bishop of Erlau, and 
 
CASSIAN. 169 
 
 the Baroness was enabled to swell the measure 
 of her pride by saluting her niece as — Countess 
 of Lino-otski ! 
 
 o 
 
 Scarcely was the momentous ceremony at an 
 end, when Sidonia placed in the hands of her 
 new sister a letter of grace addressed in the most 
 flattering terms by the Emperor to his unruly 
 subject, the Magnat Lingotski. 
 
 *^ It is your own wedding gift unto Sigmond, 
 dearest Ina," whispered the Princess, weeping 
 for very joy. *^ Give it to him, dearest ; and 
 reward me by making it your bridal request to 
 pass the coming winter at Vienna ; for the con- 
 dition of my excellent husband has compelled 
 him to resign his public appointments, and to 
 settle himself in Austria, under more skilful 
 care." 
 
 At this announcement and request, a cloud 
 began to overshadow the countenance of the 
 bridegroom, who was but half occupied in the 
 perusal of the important document presented to 
 him by lolina ; and the young Countess, attri- 
 buting his evident distaste to the proposal, to a 
 
170 CASSIAN. 
 
 disinclination to sanction a renewed intimacy 
 with Cassian, who was now known to be settled 
 at Vienna, gently, but firmly rejected the pro- 
 posal. 
 
 " No ! dearest Sidonia ; do not ask it," said 
 she. " Remember how often Lingotski has 
 pledged me his word that we shall pass our 
 winter at Szent Miklos; remember how often 
 you have yourself striven to excite my interest 
 respecting his Transylvanian possessions. No ! 
 mere woman as I am, you cannot expect me to 
 exchange the dignity I should there enjoy for the 
 subordinate honours of mere sufferance at the 
 Imperial Court." 
 
 If Sidonia's joy seemed damped by this ex- 
 plicit declaration, which excited the undisguised 
 amazement of the Baroness and the Erdody 
 spinsters, the air of affectionate gratitude with 
 which Sigmond advanced to kiss the hand of his 
 bride, in acknowledgment for her deference to 
 his unexpressed wishes, proved a sufficient reward 
 to the young Countess. This circumstance was 
 indeed alone wanting to complete Lingotski 's 
 
CASSIAN. 171 
 
 triumph. His lovely wife had marked her pre- 
 ference of his society to all worldly distinctions ; 
 — was content to dwell with him in the rude 
 desarts of Transylvania, instead of sunning her 
 beauties in the prosperity of court favour ; — and 
 had thus publicly set forth the disinterestedness 
 of her views in accepting his hand. 
 
 Once more, and but once, did Sidonia renew 
 her importunities. As she was on the point of 
 departure, she loitered in the chamber of her new 
 sister to entreat her to take pity upon her loneliness 
 as an attendant on the sick bed of the Prince, — 
 and to join her at Vienna. 
 
 *' \o\i cannot surely desire me to require this 
 sacrifice of the Count," answered the bride, 
 distressed by her perseverance, *' Nobly as 
 Lingotski hath been pleased to overlook the past, 
 1 cannot consent to court his disapproval by 
 appearing however innocently, to seek the society 
 of Cassian." — 
 
 " Hush I" exclaimed the Princess, closing the 
 lips of her sister with her tiny hand. " Be that 
 name unbreathed for ever by lolina Lingotski ; 
 
172 CASSIAN. 
 
 and let me venture to forewarn her that the sole 
 blemish in the character of my brother, is a 
 restless and tenacious spirit of jealousy which, 
 once roused into action, would mar the happiness 
 of his own life, and that of all those to whom it 
 is important." 
 
 " Nay !" replied the young Countess, folding 
 her veil around her in the absence of a pre- 
 occupied mind, ^' that, love, is a menace uttered 
 in jest. After his indifference to the explicit 
 declaration of my previous attachment conveyed 
 through your hands, I can have little to fear from 
 his jealousy." 
 
 The Princess appeared perplexed and in a 
 painful state of indecision ; at length approach- 
 ing her lovely sister, and impressing a farewell 
 kiss upon her pale forehead, she whispered, ^' I 
 would that no feeling of self-reproach mingled 
 its bitterness with my present joy, — a joy and a 
 triumph which I sacrificed my own candour and 
 peace of mind to secure. Satisfied, dearest 
 Iblina, from my knowledge of the intemperance 
 of Sigmond's character, that he would little 
 
CASSIAN. 173 
 
 endure to seek his happiness in the possessidn of 
 a divided heart, I could not find courage for a 
 disclosure which I knew would prove the signal 
 of alienation. Too late, I have repented of my 
 error in concealing from his knowledge every 
 circumstance relating to Cassian Zeriny; — too 
 late, I perceive that discovery would now prove 
 fatal to his happiness and yours. Forgive, if you 
 can, a crime arising from the intensity of my 
 desire to see you the wife of my brother, and aid 
 me in retaining his good opinion by future silence 
 on the topic." 
 
 Princess Betthyani fondly pressed the cold 
 hands she held, to her lips and heart ; and dis- 
 appeared, before the marble figure to which she 
 had uttered this fatal adieu had recovered sense 
 and motion. The sound of a long train of car- 
 riages driving from the court-yard recalled her to 
 recollection. Her lips were firmly compressed, 
 her burning eye-balls tearless. She knew herself 
 to be alone with him who had been betrayed into 
 making her his wife; — she knew herself to be 
 about to encounter that noble brow, the terrors of 
 
174 CASSIAN. 
 
 whose furious indignation might at any moment 
 of enlightenment, burst upon herself. She had 
 abused, — unwillingly but irrevocably, — his gene- 
 rous nature; — she felt that the hour for con- 
 fidence had passed away; — and with it, her hope 
 of being happy and of conferring happiness upon 
 him to whom she had sworn entire fealty and 
 love. Is it wonderful that she received him with 
 a cold shudder of dread and agony, when he 
 returned, in the full confidingness of affection, 
 to fold her to his heart ? 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 My foot is on my native heath, — and my name is M'Gregor ! 
 
 Rob Roy. 
 
 Nearly as soon as the Baroness had fixed her- 
 self for the winter in her hotel at Pesth, did the 
 young Countess Lingotski find herself installed 
 in her gorgeous palace of Szent Miklos, in the 
 county of Arader ; enjoying a degree of regal 
 pomp which proved a most wearisome obstacle to 
 her pleasures, but finding in the consciousness of 
 having forestalled in the selection of her abode, 
 the wishes of a husband by whom she was wholly 
 beloved, a far more profitable source of gratifica- 
 tion. 
 
 If the Lingotskische Schloss on the Platen See 
 had surprised her by its air of grandeur, the rude 
 
176 CASSIAN. 
 
 desolate splendours of Szent Miklos oppressed her 
 with a sense of loneliness painful to her feelings. 
 The palace, although of stupendous dimensions, 
 and befitting the princely estate of which it 
 formed the central point, did not strike her by 
 any unusual shew of dignity when viewed from 
 the glorious avenue by which it was approached 
 for many leagues. But as the distance gave way, 
 and the whole edifice with its turrets and barti- 
 zans and overhanging galleries burst upon her 
 sight, with the Lingotski body-guard of Hussars 
 drawn up in splendid array upon the glacis, and 
 a countless multitude of vassals lining the road, 
 and apparently marshalled by military discipline 
 to salute the arrival of their lord, she turned 
 towards Lingotski half afraid to express her sen- 
 timents of wonder and admiration, and perceived 
 that he had resumed the national uniform, and 
 that an expression of fierce triumph and exultation 
 was glancing in his eyes, such as she had never 
 before detected among their varying characters. 
 
 "Ay !" said he, half communing with himself, 
 half addressing his observations to his attentive 
 
CASSIAN. 177 
 
 bride, *' well may the Emperor begrudge me these 
 evidences of hereditary rule ; well may he envy 
 me these powerful ministers of my will, whose 
 rude energies put shame upon the nerveless 
 puppets that line the drowsy palace-courts of 
 Vienna. Let him chaffer and haggle inch by 
 inch over his crown lands ; let dolts and slaves, 
 like the Zerinys, expect to win with the plains 
 of the Banat the allegiance of the curs who dig 
 thereon for bread ; but hereditary right can alone 
 insure hereditary might, — and a world of ducats 
 would never replace at Szent Miklos the talis- 
 manic power of Lingotski's name. 'The king 
 may make a belted knight,' but who can create a 
 magnat of Hungary ?" 
 
 As he spoke, they crossed the drawbridge ; 
 and the broidered banners of his regiment v/ere 
 lowered as the carriage entered the court-yard, 
 and drew up under the stone arcades of the hall 
 of entrance, the groined roof of which rested 
 upon massive columns of red granite. The 
 household, headed by the hofrichter of the 
 estate, accompanied by the chief engineer of the 
 
178 CASSIAN. 
 
 mines, and by two resident professors of medicine 
 and natural history, was assembled to greet with 
 humble deference the first appearance of the 
 Count ; and Lingotski led the timid steps of his 
 bride through long files of vassals and dependents 
 into the great saloon which, despite the mirrors, 
 and statues, and tapestries with which it was 
 adorned, looked like the awful and uninhabitable 
 vestibule of an enchanted castle. lolina half 
 shuddered as she turned into the deep embrasure 
 of a window to gaze upon the boundless prospect 
 that lay beneath. She perceived that avenues 
 similar to that by which they had reached the 
 palace, served as approaches to the three opposite 
 entrances of its quadrangle; and the mighty 
 cross of foliage formed by their junction afforded 
 the only shew of verdure visible for many miles. 
 A rich bank of forest seemed however to rise in 
 the distant horizon, towards a chain of hills form- 
 ing a principal pass into Transylvania, and known 
 as the '^ Brazen Door ;" and a slope, covered with 
 vineyards, appeared to terminate the chain still 
 nearer to Szent Miklos : — but neither copse nor 
 
CASSIAN. 179 
 
 bushy dingle, nor isolated groups of massive elm 
 or oak varied the monotonous but fertile plains 
 on a knoll of which the Palace was situated, and 
 which lay around it in vast and almost uninhabit- 
 able dreariness. There were pastures, it is true, 
 alive with cattle, ''forty feeding like one;" — 
 there were enclosures of mighty extent, from 
 whose stubbly surface the shocks of corn had 
 been but recently removed ; — and some still 
 wider, to which the decaying stalks of the tengeri 
 hiiza ^ or maize, imparted a most dreary aspect. 
 But excepting unto those who drew their reve- 
 nues from the mighty fertility of the land, — 
 those who saw the sun rise upon its vastness, and 
 knew themselves " lords of the fowl and the 
 brute" sheltering in its deep ravines or darkening 
 its spreading lakes, the uninformed expanse con- 
 veyed no pleasurable sensations. It wanted the 
 vivifying impulse of a free and prospering popu- 
 lation ; it wanted a shew of happy human growth 
 to strengthen its appeal to the heart ; for although 
 
 * Literallv, sea xxheat. 
 
180 CASSIAN. 
 
 the labourers who were seen scattered on the 
 plains, some busy in tillage,— some in guarding 
 the flocks, — some spear in hand, driving herds 
 of woolly Turkish swine towards the forest, or 
 bringing homewards from its dark recesses, 
 droves of milch-buffaloes, — although they bore 
 no manacles on their limbs, nor were overlooked 
 by a scourge-bearing overseer, — yet the impress 
 of bondage and degradation was as plainly 
 marked upon their swart foreheads, as if the 
 scene of their labours had been encircled by 
 Caribbean seas ; and thus the landscape borrowed 
 no enlivenment from its living features. Saving 
 the eagles which were winging their lofty way 
 towards the distant mountains, or a solitary 
 bustard following their flight at a timid interval, 
 there was not a single free or happy thing visible 
 between the parched earth and the clear blue sky 
 by which it was overhung ! 
 
 During the early days of her sojourn at Szent 
 Miklos, the Countess, — overcome by the fatigues 
 of her journey, and harassed by the vehemence 
 with which her lord was disposed to resent the 
 
CASSIAN. 181 
 
 deficiency of her accustomed luxuries, with which 
 the chief purveyors of the capital had been 
 charged to anticipate her arrival,— had little 
 leisure for extending her obseiTations. It was 
 in vain she attempted to represent the difficulty 
 of conveyance to so remote and inaccessible a 
 spot; the limited time, the scanty preparation 
 afforded to the delinquents. Her arguments were 
 insufficient to moderate the wrath of Lingotski 
 who had been earnestly desirous that the first 
 dreary coup d' ail of his comfortless palace should 
 neither intimidate nor disgust the fair creature 
 whose life he would have gladly rendered brilliant 
 and joyous as the pageant of a fairy dream. 
 
 " Blame me not, sweet Ina,'' cried he, " nor 
 deem me a trifler that my mind is vexed by cir- 
 cumstances so puerile. At Szent Miklos, I am 
 accustomed to know myself absolute. Between 
 my power and that of the King of kings, inter- 
 veneth but a solitary sceptre; and even against 
 the will of yonder Emperor, yonder faineant re- 
 presentative of a line inferior to my own, — even 
 against an Imperial decree, — the swords of my 
 
182 CASSIAN. 
 
 vassals would probably bear me scatheless. Yet 
 tremble not, love ! I am not about to dare the con- 
 test. I have made my strength known already, 
 and that alone hath secured me the favour 
 which Sidonia hath been pleased to ascribe to the 
 intercession of her doting husband, the puppet of 
 the Aulic Chamber. Yes ; at Szent Miklos the 
 breath of my lips forms an unimpeachable law ; 
 and I confess myself guilty of having gloried, 
 from my youth upwards, in such a consciousness. 
 But I never tasted the sweets of power, — I never 
 truly indulged in the exultation of gratified pride, 
 till I was enabled to lay its trophies at the feet of 
 the woman I loved, and to delegate to her hand 
 the mastery of my every earthly possession." 
 
 "Would you could learn how lightly she hath 
 taught herself to hold all human distinctions." 
 
 *^ I would not learn it, lolina ; for are they not 
 the sole gifts in which I can boast a pre-eminence 
 over herself ; or which have yielded me the power 
 of marking towards her the deference of affec- 
 tion ? Even now, dearest, 'tis for your sake alone 
 I prize that which will aid me in the gratification 
 
CASSIAN. 183 
 
 of your sweet wishes, — of every caprice of your 
 fancy. Say, am I not happy? — am I not for- 
 tunate beyond the common lot of mortals ? God 
 had gifted me by birthright with wealth and sta- 
 tion, and with capacity to render them avail- 
 able ; yet scarcely had dawning manhood roused 
 my intemperate restlessness, and taught me to 
 consider such distinctions insufficient for happi- 
 ness, when a being as gentle, as fair, as highly- 
 gifted as the wildest visions of my solitude had 
 suggested, consents to share the proud obscurity, 
 the dignified seclusion which, without her pre- 
 sence, had not sufficed for enjoyment ; but which 
 when blest with her society, form a paradise 
 brighter than the Eden of Eastern climes ! Par- 
 don my self-gratulation, lolina; forgive my 
 egotism, when you remember that it hath been the 
 daydream of my life to possess myself of a pure 
 and unsullied heart; — a heart whose pulse had 
 never quickened under the gaze of another, — 
 whose tide had never warmed till my voice 
 wakened it into life and love; — and bethink 
 thee that, despite the rarity of such a blessing, I 
 have made it my own !" 
 
184 CAS SI AN. 
 
 By such allusions, — by such untimely exulta- 
 tion, did Lingotski mar the enjoyment of many 
 an hour which had otherwise passed away in the 
 peaceful interchange of affection ; and check and 
 discourage that dawning confidence which time 
 and patience might have ripened into a feeling 
 precious as that of which he had been beguiled, 
 and which he still believed himself to possess 
 within the bosom of his bride. " In such a wil- 
 derness as this. 
 
 Where transport and security entwine, 
 
 love might have revelled in a bower of bliss as 
 sweet as any that hath blossomed since the days 
 of earth's simple childhood ; and even with the 
 self-conviction that prayed upon her mind, and 
 even with the apprehensions of discovery that 
 embittered her happiest hours, the young Coun- 
 tess was prompt to acknowledge to herself that 
 her days had never passed so quickly away ; and 
 that the devotion of the heart we are permitted 
 to call our own, is at once the most holy and the 
 sweetest of earthly blessings. 
 
 Her whole character was indeed changed and 
 
CASSIAN. 185 
 
 tempered by the vicissitudes through which, 
 young as she was, she had been destined to pass ; 
 and the mutability of her fortunes had subdued 
 her mind into that deep and humble sense of the 
 transitory nature of human happiness and the 
 uncertainty of life, which is perhaps the best 
 safeguard of present enjoyment. In her season 
 of early prosperity she had shone as a lovely and 
 intelligent, as well as a good and gracious crea- 
 ture ; in her succeeding season of adversity she 
 had exhibited a mild forbearance; — and in the 
 trials and torments by which she had been per- 
 plexed during that season's troubled course, she 
 had retained her graceful dignity of character, 
 even when most humiliated, — most desolately 
 lonely. And now that a new source of bitterness 
 and undeserved affliction was opened to her taste, 
 she felt that her lessons of sorrow had not been 
 learned in vain. She dashed not the chalice 
 from her lips in peevish despair; she refrained 
 not from the draught in wayward discontent ; but 
 patiently and firmly nerved herself to meet and 
 avert the dangers by which she was menaced. 
 
186 CASSIAN. 
 
 Gentle, humble, grave, and self-reproving, she 
 resolved to bear much at the hands of one she 
 had involuntarily deceived and injured, — to labour 
 unrelaxingly in her task of softening the asperity 
 of his character and extending her influence over 
 his affections ; and perhaps the doubts she enter- 
 tained of her own rights upon his tenderness, and 
 her ov^rn pov^^er of averting the dangers of dis- 
 covery, tended more than aught beside to enhance 
 the value of that tenderness in her eyes, and to fix 
 her entire interest and attention upon the means 
 of securing their mutual love and happiness. 
 
 Sentiments such as these, — so purely, so deli- 
 cately feminine, — although they united to sadden 
 her joyous smile, and to add a yet more reserved 
 grace to her endearing gentleness, did but serve 
 to render her more lovely, and more precious to 
 him unto whom her cares and her humble sweet- 
 ness were directed ; and in proportion as the 
 Countess appeared to study the will and caprices 
 of her lord, did Lingotski resign the empire of 
 that will into her hands. He who knew so well 
 to value the possession of absolute power, be- 
 
CASSIAN. 187 
 
 stowed in lavish affection upon his wife the sole 
 governance of his wayward mind, as the highest 
 tribute in his power to offer. " I feel that I have 
 become the veriest slave of love !" he would say ; 
 " but I feel it only to wish I could prove myself 
 still more devoted, — still more fondly attached. 
 I fear not that so pure a passion should render 
 my mind enervate or unmanly; and therefore I 
 glory in my subjection. My happiness, my pride, 
 my honour, are centred in lolina's heart; — can 
 I fear that they will suffer blight or pain in such 
 sweet keeping ?'* 
 
 But even protestations like these, and the 
 devoted tenderness by which they were verified, 
 less powerfully marked to the Countess her 
 influence over the stern wild character of her 
 husband, than the diligence with which her 
 intercession and mediation were sought by all 
 those dependent upon his will. The wretched 
 prisoners whose clanking fetters were heard under 
 the keep of the castle, — converted by the right 
 of its lord to the Jus Gladii, into the county gaol, 
 — trusted to the tender mercies of Lino;otski's bride 
 
188 CASSIAN. 
 
 for the re-admission of light and air into their 
 foetid dungeon ; — the heiducks, whose trivial 
 sins of omission in the execution of their various 
 duties had been v^ont to be reproved, in the 
 Hungarian fashion, with sabre blows, now ob- 
 tained a remission of punishment by braving it 
 under those gentle eyes which brooked not to 
 look upon severity ; — even the luckless Hofrichter 
 who had been dismissed from his appointment 
 for the negligence with which he had slighted 
 the accommodation of the Countess on her first 
 arrival, obtained forgiveness and re-instalment at 
 her entreaty. 
 
 " Forgive him, love," said she, " for my sake ; 
 and believe, henceforward, that I am utterly 
 indifferent whether my cushions of state be of 
 serge or brocade ; or whether my lamp burn in a 
 golden vase or earthen vessel. These tapestries, 
 though faded, served the need of the mighty 
 ancestors in whose names you glory; and the 
 daughters of kings have lent their honours to 
 your line, nor asked a richer canopy than that 
 which now overhangs the head of the merchant's 
 lowly child." 
 
CASSIAN. 189 
 
 She checked herself, for she saw the red blood 
 rush to the very temples of the Count; and 
 recognized too late that, although he had been 
 stimulated by an impulse of passion to overlook 
 the degradation of her birth, he had still no 
 mind to hear it blazoned in other ears by her 
 humble frankness of speech. " Yet pardon me, 
 Lingotski," continued lolina, following his re- 
 treating steps into an interior and still more 
 comfortless chamber, *^ pardon me that I cannot 
 share thy loftiness of thought and sternness of 
 will ; — if they are virtues in thy sight, be it mine 
 to labour in their acquirement. Methought that 
 in thy bold defence of the rights of the people 
 against the Austrian yoke, — methought that in 
 wedding with one of a degree so lowly, thou 
 hadst marked thy contempt for wordly distinctions. 
 Methought," added she, clinging to his arm 
 and lifting her pleading eyes to his, "that he 
 who could stoop to ally himself with one con- 
 temned even by those whose name she bore, had 
 shewn himself superior to petty cares for pomp 
 and state." 
 
190 CASSIAN. 
 
 " The eagle/' replied Sigmond, parting the 
 hair upon the fair forehead on which he gazed, 
 and speaking proudly, but with intense feeling, 
 *' the eagle, dearest, may bear off the dove of the 
 plains unto its lone eyrie, nor fear reproach from 
 the baser fowls of the earth. He heeds not, in 
 his sun-lit flight, the gibbering of their vulgar 
 comment ; — he fears not in his lofty home, parti- 
 cipation in their vileness. But 'tis not so with 
 birds of a meaner wing. Each must maintain 
 above each, his attributes of petty superiority ; 
 and yonder Baroness, — unto whom I conceive 
 thee to allude, — with her minor nobility and 
 doubtful pretensions, would be dragged back into 
 the dust, by the smallest impediment upon her 
 flight." 
 
 " Pray Heaven," murmured the bride, startled 
 by the arrogance of the simile, "pray Heaven 
 the dove find not so lofty a nest too lone, too high 
 for happiness !" 
 
 But a being so gentle, so full of the sweetest 
 human charities, could not long be lonely. Lin- 
 gotski, it is true, was soon and frequently 
 
CASSIAN. 191 
 
 removed from her side by the busy cares of his 
 little kingdom; by the appeals of the various 
 Eentmeisters resident on the more remote districts 
 of his lands, — by those of the engineers appointed 
 to the management of his canals and marshes, — 
 by the directors of his vast studs and the Pusztas 
 to v^^hich they were annexed, — and lastly, and 
 more than all important, by the sittings of the 
 local tribunals, or Herrenstukh at which he was 
 prompt to assist ; — and lolina ceased to wonder 
 at the intense interest with which her husband 
 regarded a residence comprehending duties so 
 various, so important to the happiness of his 
 vassals, and to the well-being of his native 
 countiy. 
 
 In the mean time, herself found occasion to 
 profit by the information she was eager to gather 
 from the superior members of her new household ; 
 whose literary and scientific acquirements as well 
 as the facilities afforded by their service to the 
 Lingotski, and their long residence in the land, 
 eminently qualified them to instruct her in the 
 character, the habits, and wants of her numerous 
 
192 CASSIAN. 
 
 dependents. If, on her first arrival, she had 
 been struck by the munificence which had 
 prompted one so unlettered as the Count to 
 append such costly servants to his establish- 
 ment, — and, still more, by the patient self-denial, 
 or engrossment in abstract pursuits, which en- 
 abled two men of superior abilities to endure 
 the seclusion of such a desart, her surprise 
 quickly subsided. She found 'that amid the 
 savage solitude of Szent Miklos, the power of 
 securing an enlightened companion was one of 
 primary importance ; and that the worthy Na- 
 dasch, in the musty recesses of the splendid 
 library over which he presided, and Stringer, the 
 simple German naturalist, in the discovery of a 
 mineralogical or botanical variety, and the com- 
 munication of his triumph to his correspondents 
 at Weimar, Munich, or Geneva, found a deep 
 and peculiar joy, superior to any attainable amid 
 " the hum, the stir, the shock of men.'' 
 
 Both these brothers in philosophy were how- 
 ever equally pleased and proud to be summoned 
 from the folio and the crucible, in order to ex- 
 
CASSIAN. 193 
 
 pound the mysteries of her new kingdom unto 
 the fair creature who seemed, like some angel 
 visitant, new lighted upon their solitude ; and 
 who turned from their explanation of her peculiar 
 rights and privileo^es over her vassals, to inform 
 herself of their miseries and their wants. It is 
 true her first prospect of her unexpected duties 
 was dispiriting in the extreme, and her first 
 insight into the wretched condition of the pea- 
 santry, painfully revolting. But with what 
 better occupation might she task her solitude, — 
 or how more satisfactorily beguile her mind from 
 the contemplation of unavailing retrospections, 
 than by ministering to the afflictions of those 
 whom the Almighty had placed at her disposal .' 
 Accompanied by Mariska's living legacy, the 
 good but brusque and untutored Katalin, her 
 delicate foot shrunk not from the filth of their 
 loathsome cabins ; — with her own eyes she 
 learned to know the self-abasement, the brutal 
 ignorance, and evil- will, which are the faithful 
 handmaidens of despotism. No spirit of emula- 
 tion, no cheering impulse of hope lightened the 
 
 K 
 
194 CASSIAN. 
 
 heavy tasks of the Lingotskischen Bauern — serfs, 
 in all but name ! and their huts that lay shadowed 
 from daylight under the castle walls, and their 
 minds which gloomed on in the darkness of sub- 
 jection to its lord, were equally obscure, cold, 
 and unproductive ! 
 
 But lolina, instigated by the more experienced 
 minds of her two elder conductors, bade the light 
 shine upon both ; and it was on this point only 
 that she had to encounter the opposition of the 
 Count. She was anxious to secure the assistance 
 of a superior from the Normal School at Her- 
 mannstadt, in order to establish one on the same 
 principles at Szent Miklos, — one to be equally 
 open to the children of the native Magyari, to 
 those of the Walachian and other tribes settled 
 upon Lingotski's domains ; and even to the mise- 
 rable offspring of the Tsiganys who, as charcoal 
 burners, were camped by ancient right among 
 his southern forests. The Count, however proud 
 of the activity with which his lovely wife devoted 
 herself to the improvement of the objects around 
 her, — objects so dear to his interests, — opposed 
 
CASSIAN. 195 
 
 to this new measure not only the doctrines he 
 had learned from the lips of his earliest instruc- 
 tors, the Franciscan Brethren of Pesth, touching 
 the damnatory influence of enlightenment among 
 the labouring classes, but the impossibility of 
 extending the same advantages to the various 
 nations, employing various dialects and lan- 
 guages, upon his lands; — Suabians, speaking- 
 only German, — Croats and Sclavonians, the 
 Sclavonic, — Walachians, bringing forward their 
 own corrupt dialect in evidence of their Roman 
 descent*, — and the fierce insolent sons of the 
 Magyari, using alternately a scarcely purer Latin 
 idiom, or their native unpolished tongue. 
 
 '^ They of the vineyards, Ina," said Sigmond, 
 '^ pour not together into the wine press, the red 
 grape and the amber, — the musky fruit and the 
 acid ; nor may we, love, unite the filthy scum of 
 a gypsy camp, and the wild infants of the Wala- 
 chian tribes ; who borrow the usages of Turkey 
 
 ->w$ 
 
 * " Noi sentem de sangue Rumena," a supposed conuption of 
 sumus de sanguine Romano," is a common Walachian vaunt. The 
 dialect of Walachia is said to contain four-eighths of Latin. 
 
196 CASSIAN. 
 
 and the heresies of the Patriarch's church, too 
 freely to be admitted into congregation with the 
 Hungarian devotees of the Romish persuasion. 
 Burn your lexicons, and bid Nadasch and Stringer 
 light their meerschaums with your task-books ; — 
 they will but teach your pupils to despise the 
 ignorance of their fathers, and perhaps, to fall 
 from their creed. But if perforce you must play 
 the Magister, take Szava, my dorfrichter for 
 your counsellor, and let the ploughshare prove 
 the hornbook of my vassals ; — or better still, — 
 institute with the Serjeant Major of my Lingot- 
 skians, an academy of arms, and train me recruits 
 such as may back my cause when next I am sub- 
 jected to the insolence of one of my cousin 
 Franzl's Imperial decrees. Blood may be spilt 
 between us yet, Inchen ; and it were a worthy 
 task to furnish the need of your rebel husband 
 with capable defence. Tremble not, love ; turn 
 not so pale, lolina, you know not yet the fierce 
 nature you have undertaken to subdue." 
 
 Thus diverted from her purpose, though un- 
 convinced by Lingotski's flighty arguments, the 
 
CASSIAN. 197 
 
 Countess directed the activity of those whose 
 tutelage she had undertaken, to objects more 
 within the scope of her personal interference. 
 She obtained permission to apportion to every hut 
 of the village of Szent Miklus, a garden ground 
 for which the vast inclosures of the palace fur- 
 nished seeds and plants ; and to institute prizes 
 for the annual production of the fairest flowers 
 and fruits ; and by this harmless and healthful 
 emulation, she gave employment to the feeble 
 among her people, whether from infancy or ca- 
 ducity. 
 
 Thus occupied, — thus interested in ministering 
 to the happiness of others, and thereby securing 
 her own, the long w^inter passed rapidly over the 
 head of the young Countess Lingotski ; nor did 
 she waste one regretful thought upon the 
 crowded halls and theatres of Trieste, which had 
 echoed with praises of her beauty, — or upon the 
 aristocratic and dull dissipation of the Hungarian 
 capital, over which, had she been willing, she 
 might have now proudly presided. To enter into 
 the pursuits of Sigmond, to combat his gigantic 
 
198 CASSIAN. 
 
 projects, — to share his rides, or traverse with 
 him on foot the snow-covered wastes intervening 
 between the palace of Szent Miklos and its 
 pheasantries, — to cheer his evenings with music, 
 or devote her mornings to the assortment of spe- 
 cimens transmitted by his Bergwerks Director, — 
 such were her occupations, — such her diversions ; 
 and insufficient as they may appear, lolina con- 
 fessed to herself that they rendered that dreary 
 winter the sweetest she had ever passed. Must I 
 acknowledge that her after-life supplied no 
 example of a happier or a brighter season? 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Earth hath her bubbles, — and these are of them. 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 There are few faults so unpardonable or so 
 unpardoned in a writer as that of dulness ; and 
 throughout the progress of the story with which 
 I am presuming to weary my readers, I confess I 
 have felt " accountant for as great a sin." I 
 have roused myself, — rallied my drooping mind, — 
 reproved my flagging pen, — but without success. 
 Yet it is no fault inherent in the scene or person- 
 ages of my tale which hath thus " sicklied it o'er 
 with a pale cast."' Without violating the unities 
 of time or place, I might have animated its 
 prosy details by descriptions equally new to the 
 English reader, and inviting to the English writer. 
 
200 CASSIAN. 
 
 Balaton, — Mehadia, — and the Transylvanian 
 wilds afford a thousand interesting landscapes 
 among which, at another moment, I should have 
 delighted to revel; and I have suppressed the 
 exits and the entrances of a thousand minor actors 
 of the drama, who might have been the cause of 
 wit in others, and have afforded at the same time 
 very original specimens of national character and 
 individual comedy. But whenever I have medi- 
 tated such an entreej or such details, my spirit 
 hath shrunk rebuked by the impulse of its own 
 levity. 
 
 My story is a true one ; true as far as regards 
 its principal facts and awful catastrophe ; and it 
 therefore shuns such adventitious ornaments as 
 grace the more lively imaginings of fiction. I 
 feel that the back-ground of my picture, like that 
 of Titian's Pietro Mar tire, should be dark and 
 lowering ; that every period, like the overtures 
 which announce the fable of an Opera Seria by 
 Mozart or Paesiello, should be attuned into a 
 solemn cadence ; and if the result of such 
 opinions renders my story too cold and too 
 
CASSIAN. 201 
 
 monotonous for the taste of those unto whom 
 it is addressed, let them lay it aside ; — I feel 
 myself incapable of amending my fault. 
 
 " And who, dear Ina, is this Baron Zeriny, 
 concerning whom Sidonia writes as of one of the 
 leading gallants of Vienna V said the Count, as, 
 riding by Iblina's side, he traversed the mighty 
 avenue of Szent Miklos ; whose overvvoven 
 branches were beginning to swell and bud under 
 the vivifying touch of Spring, and above whose 
 rising heads the restless rooks were circling to 
 and fro, in clamorous activity. 
 
 lolina, who had consented to accompany her 
 lord to the rendezvous of a bear hunt at which the 
 few resident nobles scattered through the county 
 purposed assembling, more in the hope of divert- 
 ing his notice from the incautious minuteness 
 with which Sidonia had alluded to her diversions 
 at Vienna, than from any desire to witness the 
 rude sport of the day, replied with an air as 
 indifferent as she could assume, " 'Tis my cousin 
 Cassian. Did you not learn from the epistles of 
 the Baroness that my uncle's patent hath been 
 k2 
 
202 CASSIA N. 
 
 confirmed, and that his son is resident in 
 Austria?" 
 
 *^ True, — true ; — and this Baron proves then to 
 be the identical philosophizing ' moral young gen- 
 tleman in black,' who has taken wing from the 
 depths of the Borsen Halle in Pesth, into the 
 etherial coteries of the Herren Gasse ; and who, if 
 I rightly remember, was the bourgeois — the kerl — 
 who, I thank his courtesy, bore evidence against 
 me in the senate, relative to my boyish exploit of 
 leaping my charger from the shore into the ferry- 
 boat ; and thereby, as he was pleased to depose, 
 endangering the limbs and lives of his Imperial 
 Majesty's lieges." 
 
 '^ I knew it not," answered the Countess, put- 
 ting her horse to speed, in order that the tumult 
 of the cortege by which they were followed might 
 overpower all further debate on the subject. But 
 the mention of a name which had been so long 
 hushed in her ears, — the discovery of Sigmond's 
 total ignorance respecting Cassian, — and of the 
 enmity existing between them, — rendered her 
 little qualified to meet the noisy greeting of 
 
CASSIAX. 203 
 
 Count Rudna, the Princes Eglevies, and other 
 devoted followers of the chase whom they found 
 in full synod at the forest rendezvous. Although 
 Lingotski had re-assured her concerning the ex- 
 istence of any danger in their woodland sport, yet 
 her cheek was blanched into a deathly paleness 
 as they approached the spot amid whose black- 
 ened stumps and withered grass, a space had been 
 cleared for the hunting tent. 
 
 The nature of the roads surrounding Szent 
 Miklos, which were formed of layers of the 
 trunks of trees, interspersed with broken masses 
 of turf, was so little calculated to facilitate social 
 intercourse between its noble inmates and those of 
 the chateaux thinly scattered amid the adjoining 
 wilds, that the Countess Lingotski had scarcely 
 before felt occasion to notice the barbarous affec- 
 tation of nationality pervading their attire, their 
 address and their discourse. Prince Eglevies 
 indeed, who occupied a high command in the 
 Imperial army, had somewhat contracted the 
 more polished habits of the lands into which his 
 profession had introduced him ; but his nephew, 
 
204 CASSIAN. 
 
 Prince Ernst, presented a happy portraiture of 
 the untravelled Hungarian noble. His long fair 
 hair hung in elf-locks to his waist, mingled with 
 the drooping tips of his mustachios ; and a blue 
 national pelisse covered with enormous buttons of 
 silver filagree, and Hungarian boots of red 
 tanned leather, completed the attire of the young 
 Magnat, whose forward bullying air bespoke him 
 one whose 
 
 Skill consists in camps, — not courts. 
 
 It is true that both himself, Rudna, and the 
 veteran General bent forward to kiss the hand of 
 the fair dame unto whose tardy arrival they had 
 deferred the commencement of their sport ; but 
 they hurried over their complimentary ceremonies 
 in order to give the signal for the advance of their 
 several Jagers; one of whom, to I olina's astonish- 
 ment, led in a heavy chain the destined victim of 
 the day. 
 
 ^'And are we come so far to witness the 
 butchery of a tame animal?" she demanded. 
 
 "Wait awhile," replied Sigmond, anxiously 
 
CASSIAN. 205 
 
 inspecting the muster of the boar-hounds. 
 " Bruin will afford us toil and danger yet, not- 
 withstanding the fortnight he has been encaged 
 in the Eolevies menagerie." 
 
 The fact soon justified his assertion. While 
 the Countess was occupied in contemplating the 
 colossal trunks of ancient oaks by which they 
 were surrounded, and the strange habits and 
 heroic air of the Walachians who were gathered 
 together to do hunting-service to their Herrschaft, 
 the bear had been loosened from the leash by its 
 Slowctk leader, and had been permitted to gain 
 considerable ground, before the keepers let slip 
 their eager dogs ; and the chase which followed 
 gave no veiy feeble idea of the more dignified 
 exploits of the olden time, which, excepting amid 
 the recesses of the Carpathian mountains, are 
 now rarely exhibited in Hungary. 
 
 To escape, hovv-ever, the spectacle of that 
 savage scene which she knew would crown the 
 chase, — the baiting of the infuriated bear when 
 at length encompassed by his foes, and the con- 
 clusions of his torments by the address with 
 
206 CASSIAN. 
 
 which a Slowak peasant is skilled to throw 
 himself into his hug, retaining the freedom of his 
 right arm in order to rip up, with a single move- 
 ment, the huge body of the animal — the young 
 Countess giving up her horse to her attendant 
 grooms, retired into the tent ; while the whoops 
 and yells of the chase growing fainter and fainter 
 in the distance, proclaimed that she was left to 
 the care of Professor Stringer and the numerous 
 attendants unto whom she had been consigned by 
 the eager Lingotski. 
 
 But as she reposed herself in the stillness 
 of the tent, contemplating as she sat the 
 strange chances of a destiny which now fixed 
 her amid the polished elegance of Italian cities, 
 and now in the wildest solitude of a Tran- 
 sylvanian desart, a low faint chant came wailing 
 on her ear, the curtains of the tent were slowly 
 updrawn, and a procession of Walachian women 
 in their holiday attire, — their brows encircled 
 with strings of golden coins, their many-coloured 
 chemises and caftans surmounted by two bro- 
 caded aprons, and overspread by a flowing white 
 
CASS TAN. 207 
 
 drapery, — advanced towards her. Each held in 
 her hand some trifling offering, — a purse of tiny- 
 pearls from the Drave, — a garland of woven 
 moss, — a cup of gold-sand, — a vessel of manna 
 drawn from native ash trees, — or a chaplet of 
 fragrant earth, kneaded into beads after the Ser- 
 vian fashion. The language in which their choral 
 invocation was framed, was strange in the ears of 
 loiina ; but the Ur yadasch, who had accom- 
 panied the train, was eager to interpret the expres- 
 sions of their grateful good-will, as they kissed 
 the hem of her gannent in token of allegiance. 
 
 Great indeed and vociferous was the exultation 
 of the female assemblage, when they learned the 
 gracious desire of the fair being unto whom their 
 homage was tendered, to visit their settlement, 
 which lay within ready distance from the tent ; 
 and following their guidance over the mossy 
 ground, lolina soon found herself, with her 
 interpreter, in the midst of a circle of mud-built 
 huts, — rude as those of an Indian wigwam, — 
 swarming with filthy, ill-grown children, — and 
 apparently destitute of the commonest necessaries 
 
208 CASSIAN. 
 
 of life. In looking indeed upon the inartificial 
 and slender construction of these frail abodes, 
 she ceased to wonder at the facility with which 
 the Walachian tribes are said to desert or transfer 
 their villages, — wholly abandoning or consuming 
 to ashes a settlement rendered unlucky in their 
 estimation by death, or disease, or the imaginaiy 
 influence of the evil eye. — Bat her astonishment 
 was still greater, and deep her feelings of self- 
 accusation, when Nadasch pointed out to her 
 notice the troglodyte habitations of the tsiganys 
 or gypsies ; or rather those cavities in the earth 
 pointed out as human abodes by the steam and 
 smoke issuing from their fissures. 
 
 As she stood conversing with the wife of the 
 Walachian chief, and surrounded by her com- 
 panions, several stragglers whose wild and gaudy, 
 although ragged vestments, attested their gypsy 
 origin, crouched towards her. However willing 
 to have adopted the Oriental mode of approach- 
 ing a superior, — a gift in hand,^ — their degraded 
 condition compelled them to assume a different 
 manner of address. They came to beg for alms. 
 
CASSIAN. 209 
 
 and the Walachian women, drawing nearer to the 
 Countess, and evidently shrinking from contact 
 with their wretched neighbours of the forest, 
 whispered that there were seers among them who 
 could read to their gracious visitant the secrets of 
 her future destiny. Half inclined to humour the 
 wild and novel character of the scene, or perhaps 
 impelled by some restless feeling of curiosity, the 
 Countess Lingotski accompanied her golden 
 donation with a request to learn something of 
 the mysteries of futurity ; and extending her 
 slender palms, two aged sybils of the group 
 advanced and bent their bleared and haggard eyes 
 alternately upon the fair hands of the Countess, 
 and upon the swarthy countenances of their 
 sisterhood. The Walachians, eager to learn the 
 result of the investigation, were hushed and 
 motionless ; and Nadasch alone disturbed the 
 ominous silence, and withdrew the eager attention 
 of the lady of Lingotski, by an erudite dissertation 
 on the origin and character of the gypsy race, — 
 contrasting the Zigeun of Germany, the Cigan of 
 Bohemia, and the Hungarian Tsigany, with the 
 
210 CASSIAN. 
 
 Gitano of Spain, the Italian ZinganOy the preda- 
 tory wanderers of England, and the gypsies of 
 central India ; — in all and each of which a simi- 
 larity of countenance, character, and language, 
 may be distinctly traced. But the discourse of 
 the pedant was wasted upon the lovely Countess, 
 whose whole attention was now absorbed by the 
 strange gestures, and mournful exclamations of 
 her oracular visitants ; and by the murmur of 
 horror which ran through the Walachian circle 
 as the elder tsigany covered her face with her 
 garment, and muttered some mysterious denun- 
 ciations. 
 
 '^ What saith she? How runs her prophecy ?" 
 demanded the Countess, of Nadasch. 
 
 ^' Nay, " interrupted the gentle voice of 
 Stringer who now joined the little congregation, 
 *' Nay ! lady, — it needeth not to know. Your 
 Excellency will scarcely affect faith in the vague 
 visions of untutored savages like these ?" 
 
 '^ Nadasch !" persisted the Countess, ^' what is 
 the result of their observations ?" 
 
 " Pardon me, madam,'' replied the worthy 
 
CASSIAN. 211 
 
 librarian, perplexed and even awestruck in his 
 demeanour. *' These people bear more evidently 
 than any other, or I might say solely among the 
 nations, the mark and symbol of divine reproba- 
 tion. Whether descendants from the first mur- 
 derer, or from the bondsman Ismael, we know 
 that their calling is unlawful, and may question 
 whether their knowledge be not of evil derivation. 
 Pardon me, gnadige Grqfiun, I cannot permit 
 myself to repeat their idle prognostications." 
 
 " How is this ?" exclaimed lolina. " You, my 
 learned friend String-er, deride them as miscreants 
 and impostors ; while Nadasch reviles them as 
 fated instruments of the Father of evil. Who 
 prevails, — which of you is justified in his belief? 
 — Nay, gentlemen, — stint not your courtesy ; but 
 repeat to me, fairly and distinctly, the words of 
 the tsigany.'^ 
 
 The Countess spoke in a tone of decision that 
 brooked not further remonstrance. Nadasch 
 bowed with reverence to his patroness, and after 
 some interrogation of the beldames who felt, or 
 affected, a reluctance to reiterate their sentence. 
 
212 CASSIAN. 
 
 — he proceeded to render it into German as 
 follows : — 
 
 " On the verge of the garden of many flowers 
 lies the horrible, and reptile-haunted desart. 
 Bride of Lingotski ! thy pathway is about to 
 turn from the blossomy way, into that lonely 
 wilderness. 
 
 '' In the recesses of the human heart, the 
 passions of corruption lie intertwined with vir- 
 tuous impulses. Bride of Lingotski ! it is thine 
 henceforth to call those monsters into existence, 
 which live but to crush their feeble companions. 
 
 " Thou, and those of thy race, shall perish by 
 the will which is dearest to thee ; — some by 
 break of heart, — some by blood outpoured; — 
 and thou wilt live but to feel thyself a wife, yet 
 widowed ; — a mother, yet childless, and thy grave 
 shall"— 
 
 " Nay ! by Heaven above, this must not be 
 spoken — Nadasch, I charge you forbear," — ex- 
 claimed Stringer, shuddering as he listened. As 
 the words burst from his lips, the return and 
 approach of the hunters, bearing in triumph the 
 
CASSIAN. 213 
 
 ensanguined carcase of the bear, terminated the 
 scene and insured the dispersion of the motley 
 crew. 
 
 loiina Lingotski was still pale and tremulous, 
 when her lord with his noble companions of the 
 chase advanced to salute her : and Linofotski 
 attributing her emotion to the spectacle of the 
 huge animal which the j'dgers had laid at her 
 feet, drew her arm gently through his own, and 
 supported her towards the tent. But so frequently 
 was she forced to pause for breath, as they made 
 their rugged way between the blackened trunks 
 of the forest, that the leaders of the hunt had 
 preceded her, and completed their arrangements 
 for her reception. As they placed themselves at 
 the board on which a repast had been lavishly 
 spread, she perceived that the bear in his proper 
 person was seated as President of the feast ; and 
 that next to the chair unto which he was girded, 
 a vacant seat was left for the lady of the revels ; 
 over which hung a garland of evergreen oak- 
 leaves, similar to that which had been twined 
 round Bruin's shaggy brows. 
 
214 CASSIAN. 
 
 " I pray thee banish these childish terrors, and 
 do honour to our woodland usage/' exclaimed 
 Lingotski, misinterpreting the paleness that over- 
 spread the cheek of his wife. 
 
 Unprepared to disobey, lolina assumed in si- 
 lence the place of honour ; and while the first 
 fruits of every dish were formally offered up to 
 the motionless jaws of her rough companion, and 
 while every glass was pledged with his, in cla- 
 morous merriment, she leaned her head upon her 
 slender hand and pondered, even unto tears, upon 
 the afflicting apprehensions which she had wil- 
 fully drawn upon herself that morning. 
 
 Rallied upon her delicacy of frame and tender- 
 ness of heart by her excited and joyous guests, 
 and persuaded by the silence of Sigmond that 
 her depression of spirits was displeasing to him, 
 the Countess lifted the mantling cup to her lips, 
 and replied with disordered but smiling gaiety to 
 the ungraceful compliments of the younger Egle- 
 vies. Still Lingotski frowned upon her efforts ; 
 and when every feat of the morning's chase had 
 been counted and recounted, and re-recounted. 
 
CASSIAN. 215 
 
 great indeed was Iblina's joy that the sinking sun 
 glowing through the western branches warned 
 the gay wassailers that it was time to separate. — 
 Once more she found herself, side by side with 
 the Count, on her homeward way ; and as she 
 could not vindicate herself from her apparent 
 weakness of the morninor without revealins: the 
 true source of her sorrow and dismay, she pre- 
 pared herself to disarm his anger by silent submis- 
 sion. But Lingotski dreamed not of chiding her 
 for a fault which grieved him only as an evidence 
 of suffering and feebleness on the part of the 
 v/ife he adored. Their ride was tedious and un- 
 communicative ; and not until they had crossed 
 the drawbrido^e of Szent Miklos, did the siorht of 
 a foaming horse, and the approach of a heiduck 
 estafette rouse the young Countess from the 
 depths of her self-abstraction. The courier re- 
 spectfully advancing, placed a sealed packet in 
 Lingotski's hand. 
 
CHAPTER Xlll. 
 
 Not for my sake 
 Are all these tears ; you should have shed them sooner. 
 Plead not the ruin you have made, but say 
 Why have you driven me to these extremes — 
 Why sacrificed my peace, and your own fame ? 
 
 Arden of Feversham. 
 
 The newly awakened terrors with which lolina 
 was already beginning to regard an unwonted 
 occurrence, and the anxiety with which she 
 watched the countenance of Lingotski during his 
 perusal of the letter, were not misplaced upon the 
 present occasion. 
 
 *^Arm thy courage for sorrow, sweet love," 
 said he, turning affectionately towards his trem- 
 bling wife. " Prepare thee for a lengthsome jour- 
 ney, lolina. Thine uncle is sorely indisposed, 
 and prays thee to be with him in his last hour ; 
 
CASSIAN. 217 
 
 and that we may not thwart his earnest desire of 
 giving thee his parting blessing, we must forward 
 to-night/' continued the Count. And furthered 
 by the ready zeal and deference waiting upon his 
 authority, in a few hours after the arrival of the 
 despatch, the Lord of Szent Miklos and his 
 agitated Countess were already far beyond the 
 limits of his wide domain. 
 
 lolina, roused by a sense of her uncle's danger 
 to a renewal of her early feelings of duteous 
 affection, would have hastened by day and night 
 to gratify his dying wishes ; but Sigmond was too 
 tender of her safety, too fondly careful of her 
 comfort to permit of her encountering unneces- 
 sary fatigue. Never indeed had he appeared so 
 delicately devoted to her happiness, so proudly 
 conscious of her value, as during that hurried 
 journey ; and for many a weary league, her head 
 pillowed upon his bosom, did he strive to cheer 
 her mind by sanguine predictions concerning the 
 event of her arrival at Pesth, or to divert her 
 attention by speaking of himself, of his past and 
 repented follies, or of his projects for the future. 
 
 L 
 
218 CASSIAN. 
 
 '' Thine home in Ofen, Ina, will be scarcely 
 less strange to thee than unto its master; nor 
 had I dreamed to visit it again. For what solace 
 hath a native Magyar in the solitude of his once 
 regal city? — What joy in the subordinate tra- 
 casseries of a society once nobly adorned by the 
 ancient names of the kingdom ? I doubt me not 
 that the paltry circles of Pesth look with wonder 
 upon the rude seclusion in which I have made 
 my happiness ; nor dream that wounded pride 
 withholds Lingotski from luxuriating in the plea- 
 sures of those polished countries which he cannot 
 choose but compare with the nakedness of his 
 native land. For although a deep sense of my 
 incapability to redress her injuries renders me 
 seemingly indiiFerent unto her fallen fortunes, 
 yet were I dwelling amid the palaces of Vienna, 
 a blight of spirit, a consciousness of indignity 
 would render unavailing in my estimation those 
 pleasures of society which delight the fickle heart 
 of our Sidonia. But at Szent Miklos, dearest 
 Ina, my pride meets no rebuke, and my power to 
 benefit my country emulates my will. At Szent 
 
CASSIAN. 219 
 
 Miklos, I am blest with the companionship of 
 the loveliest and best of wives, with the devotion 
 of the truest of vassals, and with the supremacy 
 so dear, — haply too dear — to my heart." 
 
 '^ And thither, love, will we return," replied 
 lolina, gratified by his mode of expression. 
 " Where else is there peace for us, — or scr 
 curity — or" — 
 
 Sigmond looked upon her with surprise ; but 
 attributing her agitation to the critical situation 
 of the Baron, he once more soothed her to repose 
 and sweet forgetfulness ; and for many hours she 
 was at peace. As they at length approached the 
 termination of their journey, she started from her 
 slumbers in sudden terror; exclaiming, ''Oh! 
 no Sigmond — no ! — Do not destroy him ; we are 
 innocent, — I never injured thee !" Lingotski was 
 about to inquire the subject of a dream so dis- 
 quieting; but at that moment their carriage 
 entered the courtyard of the Zerinische Haus ; 
 and the previous agitation of the Countess, com- 
 bined with the sight of that eventful spot, de- 
 prived her of all further consciousness ; and she 
 
220 CASSIAN. 
 
 was borne in the arms of the Count, and of her 
 attendant Katalin, into the Baroness's apartment. 
 
 When her senses returned, she found herself 
 carefully watched by her aunt, on whose altered 
 countenance a genuine expression of grief and 
 anxiety was powerfully depicted ; but her first 
 thought was of Sigmond ; and when she found 
 that the arm which so tenderly supported her 
 head was that of her husband, her full heart was 
 relieved by the tears which fell upon his hand. 
 '* I thought thou hadst gone from me," murmured 
 she. " Speak to me Sigmond, tell me that I am 
 still beloved !" 
 
 His reply was forestalled by a message from 
 the Baron who, having caught from an inner 
 chamber the accents of lolina's voice, earnestly 
 entreated her immediate presence ; and Lingotski, 
 after some hesitation, having conducted her to his 
 door, returned to the Baroness ; who had ex- 
 pressed her apprehension lest the sudden appear- 
 ance of a stranger should prove injurious to the 
 invalid. 
 
 The Countess was ill-prepared for the havoc 
 
CASSIAN. 221 
 
 which disease had wrought in the appearance of 
 her uncle. As he sat reclining in his fauteuil, his 
 features wore the hue and the marble fixedness 
 of death, — his white head was bowed by debi- 
 lity, — and the imperfect articulation character- 
 istic of the nature of his seizure, could only be 
 rendered intelligible by a deliberation of speech 
 which imparted an unnatural character to his 
 words. 
 
 " My niece," said the old man, — exhibiting 
 upon his countenance no trace of the tumultuous 
 feelings struggling within his bosom, — " my 
 niece, draw near to me, and aid me in thanking 
 the Almighty that my dying hours have been 
 prolonged for this interview. I am hastening into 
 His presence, lolina, his awful presence," con- 
 tinued the old man, fixing his glassy eyes upon 
 her face, — '^ and who may abide therein ?" 
 
 *' The spirits of just men made perfect!" gently 
 answered the Countess, recalled to her better self 
 by the painful solemnity of the scene. 
 
 A convulsive smile distorted the features of 
 her uncle, — a smile of horrible expression. 
 
222 CASSIAN. 
 
 '^ And whither," said he, with the same slow 
 precision, *' whither are bound the souls of the 
 extortioner, — the slave of Mammon, — the op- 
 pressor of the needy, — the betrayer of an orphan 
 child, — the ruthless enemy of the son of his own 
 bosom?" 
 
 ^' Uncle, — my dear uncle !" exclaimed lolina, 
 " banish I pray thee such terrible considerations, 
 — which regard not a father so fond, — a citizen 
 so useful, — a friend so kind, as thyself." 
 
 " My niece, — Countess Lingotski ! — ay, that 
 very name is but a badge of my crime," — said 
 the half-estranged sufferer, *' let not the presence 
 after which I have languished prove an additional 
 snare to my departing soul. Soothe me not with 
 false flattery, daughter of my brother ; but listen 
 to my confessions, and grant me thy forgiveness 
 ere I die." 
 
 '* I do beseech thee to be calm, to moderate 
 these feelings." 
 
 " My allotted time is short," interrupted the 
 old man ; " and then, the earth-worm for my 
 body, — and the worm that dieth not, for mine 
 
CASSIAN. 223 
 
 immortal soul I Oh ! that a sense of contrition 
 gnawing and cruel as either, could win me one 
 redeeming year, — one month, — one little week !" 
 
 The Countess, under the persuasion that some 
 crime of the deadliest enormity could alone urge 
 such bitter self-reviling, trembled as she listened ; 
 for she was ignorant that, in life's closing hour, 
 even the truly wise and truly virtuous in com- 
 paring the unblemished perfection required of the 
 Christian heart with the errors of their past ex- 
 istence, learn to consider with terror even the 
 most trifling sins of omission, and to distrust the 
 motives of their own best actions. But Josef 
 Zeriny was not of this number. He knew, and 
 through a just estimation, that his whole heart 
 and mind, — his wishes and expectations, — had 
 been enfolded in the purposes of his sordid am- 
 bition ; — that the world, — the polluted, earthly 
 world, — had raised an impassable barrier between 
 himself and his heavenly Judge. To the golden 
 idol, — the molten calf, — he had rendered the 
 sacrifice of his time, his desires, the weal of his 
 corrupted spirit, and the happiness of all depen- 
 dent upon his will. 
 
224 ' CASSIAN. 
 
 '^ Draw nearer to me, lolina," continued the 
 old man, " let me lay my hand on thine, and feel 
 that I touch a pulse throbbing with a life-blood 
 kindred to my own. My son hath renounced 
 me, — Cassian hath abjured his father and his 
 country ! When I prayed him to return into the 
 land, and enjoy the honours which my providence 
 had accumulated on his head, he bade me leave 
 him to the loneliness of a blighted heart, and an 
 accursed existence. He bade me think upon the 
 pillow of fire I had laid beneath his young head ; 
 — of the sacrilegious marriage into which I had 
 forced his precious lolina, — of the despot into 
 whose loathed arms I had consigned the being 
 whose heart was his own by every sweeter tie of 
 nature- — and so, bequeathing unto his parents 
 his forgiveness, — his blessing unto his beloved, — 
 he bade me henceforward remember him but as 
 one numbered with the dead." 
 
 The Countess was too deeply absorbed by the 
 horror and remorse she saw depicted in her 
 uncle's dying face, to consider the peril of her 
 own position at that moment. 
 
CASSIAN. 225 
 
 '^ I withered from the hoar that unfolded to 
 my heart the well-won hatred of my only child," 
 resumed the miserable man, his lip dropping into 
 an expression of childish sorrow. " And he is 
 far away, — and I must die without his forgive- 
 ness, — my Cassian, — my poor injured Cassian ! — 
 But thou,, my second victim, — thou unto whom, 
 upon her father's grave, I pledged myself to 
 become a father, — thou sweet one ! whom I 
 wrested from the bosom on which thou didst so 
 tenderly rely for happiness, to place thee in the 
 grasp of a tyrant, — to alienate thee from home 
 and kindred, — say, canst thou pardon me, 
 lolina ?" 
 
 '* Thou dost abuse thyself, sir," exclaimed the 
 Countess with vehemence. *' So truly as I trust 
 Heaven will deal mercifully with thee and me, so 
 truly am I wedded according to my heart's best 
 liking ; — so truly do I honour — love — nay ! 
 worship my Lingotski." 
 
 " Hush !" said the old man, " hush, child ! 
 perjui-y is a deadly sin ; nor do such asseverations 
 prove so comfortable to my heart, as would thy 
 
226 CASSIAN. 
 
 simple assurance of forgiveness. And when thou 
 dost look again upon my Cassian's face, tell him 
 lolina, that my old eyes would have closed less 
 sadly had they rested on its loveliness ; and that 
 a father's errors should have been visited with a 
 less heavy retribution !" 
 
 A distant murmur of confusion, and the sudden 
 entrance of Baroness Zeriny interrupted the 
 course of the dying sufferer's self-upbraiding. 
 
 ^^ Where is my husband?" whispered lolina 
 with as much calmness as she could affect. 
 
 ^^ The Count has already departed for Buda, — 
 anxious to prepare his long-deserted home for the 
 reception of its mistress." 
 
 ^^ I would he had tarried here," replied the 
 Countess apprehensively, ^^ for I feel that I 
 cannot quit my uncle's side." 
 
 Nor did she, nor did any of his attendants, 
 forsake him until the last fatal change had taken 
 place, and the sudden cessation of his heavy 
 sighs announced that he was at peace. In 
 obedience to his express desire, lolina Lingotski, 
 kneeling by his side, closed the eyes of her 
 
CASSIAN. 227 
 
 departed uncle ; and only deserted his chamber 
 to minister to the affliction of his widow. Even 
 the Baroness, the cold-hearted and worldly Ba- 
 roness, was penetrated with sorrow and vain 
 repentance, as the parting admonition of her 
 husband revealed to her mind the measure of her 
 own wickedness and its punishment ; and she 
 called upon the name of her absent son with a 
 fervour of sorrow such as had never before broken 
 from her lips ; while her niece, stationed beside 
 her couch, devoted herself to the task of con- 
 solation. 
 
 The night was already far advanced when the 
 light slumbers that befriended the mourner, 
 released her from her post ; and throwing herself 
 into a carriage, notwithstanding the lateness of 
 the hour, she crossed the bridge of boats towards 
 Buda. The gates of the fortress were closed ; 
 but flew open at the announcement of the Coun- 
 tess Lingotski, and in a few moments lolina 
 found herself beneath the lofty portico of her 
 unknown dwelling. — The name of Comes Lin- 
 gotski inscribed upon the peristyle, sanctified her 
 intrusion. 
 
228 CASSIAN. 
 
 But where were the signs of preparation, — 
 where the tokens of welcome which the an- 
 nouncement of her aunt had prepared her to ex- 
 pect? — All was still, — all dark, — all uninviting; 
 and after a long delay, a half-scared haus- 
 meister unbarred the massy portal; but seemed 
 doubtful whether to admit the lady of his lord. 
 
 ^^ Call Andreas, fellow; — bid Szava or Alois 
 attend the Countess," exclaimed the indignant 
 Katalin, taking his torch from his hand, and 
 ushering in her lady; while the astonished and 
 half-dreaming porter, threw open the ante-chamber 
 of a lower suite, and pointing onwards, muttered 
 that the tekintetes Grqf * was to be found in that 
 direction. 
 
 lolina, already bewildered and oppressed in 
 mind, had scarcely courage to profit by the intel- 
 ligence. With trembling gentleness she opened 
 the door, and invited by the light of a lamp 
 shining in a distant boudoir, she stole silently 
 onwards, and found Lingotski extended upon a 
 
 * Tekintetes Gr6f, — Hungarian, ^racto?<s Count, 
 
CASSIAN. 229 
 
 couch, and as she believed, asleep ; for the 
 imperfect light prevented her from noting the 
 strange frown upon his brow, and the unaccus- 
 tomed working of his features. ' Still more 
 anxious to repress her breathing, still more 
 careful to moderate her tread, she approached ; 
 and bending over the motionless figure, her tears 
 fell amid the clusters of his raven hair, and she 
 was about to impress a silent kiss upon his fore- 
 head: when suddenly starting to his feet, he 
 exclaimed with the gesture and voice of a 
 madman, *' Off! fiend, — reptile that I have 
 warmed within my bosom, away from me for 
 ever! Dost thou dare to look upon the man 
 whom thou hast wronged, — dost thou dar 
 pollute me with thy filthy caresses? — Where is 
 thy minion, woman ? Where is ' he unto whom 
 thou wast bound by nature's sweetest ties V 'Tis 
 to him thy blandishments should be addressed, 
 and not unto ' the tyrant within whose savage 
 arms thou hast been doomed to wither;' — 'tis to 
 Cassian, — the lowborn, — lowbred, — lowminded 
 Cassian thine embraces of right belong." 
 
230 CASSIAN. 
 
 He gnashed his teeth as he pronounced these 
 cruel words ; while lolina speechless, motionless, 
 tearless, stood gazing upon his insane fury. 
 " Oh ! thou accurst thing !" he faltered, survey- 
 ing her with a look of fixed disgust and hatred, 
 '* thou falsest thing ! was there no other fool, — 
 no other dupe to satisfy thine aspiring baseness 
 but Lingotski ? Couldst thou not find a heart to 
 break, — a name to dishonour, but mine? Thou 
 whom I deemed so pure that it grieved me when 
 the summer wind strayed upon thy cheek, or the 
 human eye rested upon its loveliness; — thou 
 whom I, — even I, — thy wedded husband, — 
 scarcely dare to approach with the touch of ten- 
 derness, — thou to prove false — thou!'' and he 
 burst into a laugh of hysteric agony, on the sub- 
 siding of which he approached her, whispering 
 in a low intense voice, " begone, woman ! lest I 
 forget myself, and kill thee where thou standest." 
 
 Vain had been the attempt to arrest such a 
 torrent of passionate fury by the feeble opposition 
 of calm reasoning; and even could such plead- 
 ing have availed to vindicate her, Countess Lin- 
 
CASSIAX. 231 
 
 gotski would have scorned to implicate the name 
 of her beloved Sidonia in her offence. But she 
 knew herself to be innocent, — innocent at least as 
 regarded all wilful deception and injury; — and 
 supported by this cheering consciousness, she 
 endured the harsh taunts of her husband without 
 irritation. 
 
 "Ay! meek one," he sneeringly exclaimed. 
 '^ Fold thy gentle hands upon thy bosom, pour 
 forth thy ready tears, — bear like a martyr with 
 my violence ! But I tell thee, woman, thy sub- 
 mission is falsehood, — thy very thoughts are lies, 
 — or thou couldst not have sealed my eyes to thy 
 wantonness !" 
 
 The Countess feelins; that she did but deo-rade 
 herself by listening to coarse and unmerited re- 
 proaches, and trusting that on the morrow the 
 mind and ear of her husband would be more 
 accessible, now slowly moved towards the door. 
 " Farewell, Sigmond !" said she mildly. "Thou 
 wilt one day know me better, and repent this 
 unmanly virulence ; " and thus, confiding in her 
 own influence, and secure of effacing at her plea- 
 
232 CASSIAN. 
 
 sure the erroneous impressions he had received, — 
 she left the chamber, and sealed the evil fortunes 
 of her future life. 
 
 '^ Qui quitte la partie," says the old adage, " la 
 per'd!^^ and so it is in many a crisis of domestic 
 life. Affection hath at all times, it is true, a 
 boundless empire over the human bosom ; but it 
 is wiser to exert its influence in the moment of 
 shame following an unbecoming ebullition of 
 anger, than in the festering soreness of a renewed 
 dispute. Patience will win upon the most in- 
 censed heart, and " a soft answer turneth away 
 wrath.'' lolina Lingotski in abandoning her own 
 cause, either through timidity or despair, threw 
 aside the buckler with which she might have 
 fortified her defenceless bosom. 
 
 Need I say that she slept not during that 
 seemingly interminable night ; and that her mind 
 was well nigh distracted by the fatigue, the shock, 
 and the many afflictions she had recently under- 
 gone ? " My poor Mariska !" murmured she 
 through her tears, as she laid her head upon its 
 comfortless pillow, " 'twas in a home like this 
 
CAssiAX. 233 
 
 thou badst me seek for happiness. Alas ! it 
 seemeth not to abide in the haughty palaces of 
 the Magyari I" 
 
 Day dawned at length upon her misery ; and 
 Katalin, who had not left the chamber of her 
 mistress during: the nio-ht, was summoned to the 
 ante-room by the maitre d' hot el. She returned 
 bearino; a letter from Linsotski, which ran as 
 follows 
 
 "Return to Szent Miklos, and live there in 
 silence and remorse. Insult me w4th thy pre- 
 sence, — presume to address me in writing, — or 
 dare to renew thine intercourse with the Betthy- 
 ani or Zeriny families, — and I will cast thee out 
 with thy unborn child to shame and poverty. Let 
 an humble and blameless life plead for thee with 
 him whom thou hast deceived; and forget not 
 amid thy wretchedness and degradation, the coals 
 of fire which thou hast heaped upon the head of 
 
 LiNGOTSKI." 
 
 lolina, driven to desperation by the gloomy 
 prospects before her, threw a mantle over her 
 shoulders, and was about to fly to Sigmond'' 
 
234 CASSIAN. 
 
 apartment: "He is gone, lady," said Katalin 
 interposing, and interpreting her movement. 
 " Gone before day-break, and without a single 
 attendant; and by his commands the carriage 
 and suite are in readiness for our return to Szent 
 Mikl6s/' 
 
 "Gone — gone?'' shrieked lolina; "then am I 
 most undone ! He deserts me, — he refuses to 
 listen to my vindication; — Sigmond disowns me, 
 — and what have I to do with life or hope !" 
 
 During the succeeding miserable hours in 
 which she lay distracted, calling upon her hus- 
 band, — her father — her uncle — for succour and 
 redress, — a letter from the Baroness was delivered 
 into her hands. Somewhat recalled to herself by 
 the name, she hastily perused and learned from it 
 that, during the preceding night, the Baron 
 Zeriny, — Cassian, — had returned to Pesth, re- 
 called by the danger of his father. 
 
 " I dare not encounter my son alone," 
 wrote the Baroness, " agitated as he is by 
 feeling that his waywardness hath shortened the 
 days it was his duty to prolong. Come to me, 
 
CASSIAN. 235 
 
 dearest Ina, and without delay. One word horn 
 your lips will prevail to insure peace between 
 us.'^ 
 
 '' Nay then !" exclaimed the Countess, *^ I 
 dare no longer delay my departure. A meeting 
 with Cassian at such a moment would indeed 
 aggravate the mischiefs with which I am beset." 
 
 Hurrying therefore from the fatal mansion, she 
 commenced her desolate journey; with no better 
 sympathy to uphold her mind than that of the 
 indignant and faithful Katalin ; and no kinder 
 protection than that of the heiduck guards which 
 preceded her equipage ; and in this humiliating 
 and afflicting guise, the lovely Countess Lin- 
 gotski returned to Szent Miklos. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 For life, I prize it 
 As I do grief which I would spare ; — 'for honour, 
 'Tis a derivative from me to mine. 
 
 Winter's Tale. 
 
 Meanwhile Count Lingotski, — whose infuriated 
 temper, unsubsued by the influence of principle — 
 unregulated by education — untamed by deference 
 to the world's opinion, — selfish, haughty, and 
 uncompromising, — exhibited a melancholy ex- 
 ample of the character of his caste and nation, — 
 had embarked himself on the Danube in a pas- 
 sage-boat bound for Belgrade ; and there, long 
 ere his excitement of indignation had subsided, 
 he addressed to that absent sister whom he little 
 suspected as the origin of his misfortunes, a 
 vague and over-wrought picture of his wrongs. 
 ^^ / have been betrai/ed," he wrote ; and I call 
 
CASSIAN. 237 
 
 upon thee, Sidonia, by thine affection for thy 
 brother, and thine own self-esteem, to drive from 
 thy heart and banish from thy notice the de- 
 graded lolina. Canst thou believe, Sidonia, — 
 thou, who art so pure, — that when she pressed 
 her lips to mine, the kisses of another — no, no ! I 
 cannot write it ! I am now a wanderer, dearest 
 sister ; and have bound myself to seek in distant 
 countries, peace for a heart that beats too wildly." 
 
 To the hofrichter of Szent Miklos he expressed 
 himself in terms scarcely more gracious or more 
 accurate. 
 
 '^ The Countess Lingotski," ran the mandate, 
 '^ will keep residence at the castle during my ab- 
 sence, — an absence that will endure for years, — 
 perhaps for ever. Yourself, Stringer, Nadasch, 
 and my vassals in general — will hold yourselves 
 submitted to her authority, on which I impose 
 no restrictions save that she quit not my domain 
 for a single hour ; — that she receive no stranger 
 within my gates, — nor communicate by letter with 
 myself or any other person. Respect her, — not 
 as my wife, — that tie is broken, — but as mother 
 
238 CASSIAN. 
 
 to the future heir of my honours." These harsh 
 commands, followed by directions for the trans- 
 mission of his revenues to a banker at Odessa, 
 concluded the letter. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that circumstances so 
 peculiar, — so unprecedented, — as those which 
 have been narrated, could fail in giving employ- 
 ment to the thousand tongues of rumour in a city 
 where so little incident occurs to task their idle- 
 ness as Pesth. While the mighty ones of the 
 land marvel at the facility with which their 
 actions pass into notice, and their most secret 
 follies become the proverb of their neighbours, 
 they forget the loud voice of anger, the rash 
 vehemence of action which betrays them to their 
 own domestics, and through that medium to the 
 whole babbling world beside ; and it was even 
 thus the differences between the lord of Lingotski 
 and his banished wife became at once the subject 
 of popular comment. Causes the most absurd 
 and the most dishonouring were invented to fill 
 up the canvas. 
 
 A mauvais menage, — nay, even total estrange- 
 
CASSIAN. 239 
 
 ment and separation in wedded life are so 
 necessarily consequent upon the conventional 
 marriages formed in the higher Hungarian 
 circles, that they excite little scandal or re- 
 mark; and it was therefore inevitable that 
 a measure of such rigour as imprisonment at 
 Szent Mikl6s, and of such importance as self- 
 banishment, should waken the most myste- 
 rious and horrible suspicions. Every voice in 
 the Herren Gasse was raised to point out the 
 dangerous consequences of an ill-proportioned 
 marriage; — the former companions of lolina, im- 
 patient of her elevation, hinted at a thousand 
 hitherto undetected flaws in her temper and dis- 
 position ; — Dorottya Erdody (the Countess, her 
 twin grace, was now silent in the dark vaults of 
 St. Eustatius), was eloquent and indefatigable in 
 her pictures of the warm attachment displayed 
 on the part of the injured husband; — and poor 
 Madame Zeriny, into whose unwilling ears all 
 these tidings were poured, knew not what inter- 
 pretation they might bear. Even had she been 
 aware how much of her husband's declarations 
 
240 ^ CASSIAN. 
 
 had reached the ear of Lingotski on that eventful 
 evening, it would never have occurred to her 
 mind, — with all her knowledge of his selfish 
 flightiness, — that his jealousy could find subject 
 of displeasure in an attachment that had preceded 
 even his acquaintance with lolina ; and she had 
 no better means of allaying the inquietudes of 
 her mind, or of satisfying the still more indignant 
 misgivings of Ca:ssian, than by addressing her 
 inquiries to the Princess Betthyani, who was still 
 resident at Vienna. 
 
 '^ I have my dear brother's assurances of 
 lolina's guilt," replied Sidonia, '^although un- 
 supported by details, and on such evidence I 
 cannot acquit her ; Sigmond's present distress of 
 mind and past affection avouch the justice of 
 her condemnation. Under these circumstances 
 I feel myself bound to refrain from all further 
 intercourse with her family ; in expressing which 
 apparently ungracious resolution, permit me to 
 assure my esteemed friend the Baron Zeriny of 
 my continued sympathy and regard." 
 
 From the receipt of this letter the mortified 
 
CASSIAK. ^41 
 
 Baroness, whose schemes had been productive of 
 such bitter fruit, and whose old age was unso- 
 laced by the regard of a single human being, 
 refrained from uttering the name, — the key-stone 
 of her former pride,— of the '* Countess Lingotski." 
 She had remarked the shudder which thrilled the 
 frame of the young Baron at the sound ; she saw 
 too that his health was fatally impaired by his 
 recent afflictions ; and desirous to escape from her 
 joyless home and the sneers of society, she pre- 
 vailed upon Cassian to accompany her to Italy. 
 By this expatriation, the sufferer at Szent Miklos 
 was deprived of her last stay and sole protection. 
 And how did that lonely sufferer bear up 
 against these accumulated trials, — how support 
 the last and worst — renouncement by the being 
 upon whom she had lavished her affections ? — 
 How endure the daily torment of dwelling 
 amongst scenes and persons that had been so 
 recently viewed through the deceptious atmo- 
 sphere of happiness and gratified love,— how 
 school herself to meet the scornful or mistrustful 
 eyes of every one around her ? — 
 
242 CAS SI AN. 
 
 All that resolution could effect, — all that pa- 
 tience, humble religious patience — could insure, 
 was done, and borne, and suffered without a 
 murmur. But as a finely-toned instrument will 
 break when wrought beyond its stretch of power, 
 — as a young plant will wither when the protec- 
 tion of the lofty tree under whose branches it 
 was fostered is suddenly withdrawn, — so withered 
 the mind, so broke the heart of Iblina. For 
 many days succeeding her arrival at Szent Mik- 
 16s, a strange restlessness seemed to inspire her 
 frame and accelerate its movements. With 
 fevered cheeks and haggard eyes she wandered to 
 and fro through the castle, touching with grasp- 
 ing hands every object that had peculiarly apper- 
 tained to Sigmond; whose unuttered name 
 seemed ever hovering upon her compressed 
 lips. Neither the entreaties of Katalin, nor the 
 more authoritative injunctions of Professor Na- 
 dasch, whose skilful experience foresaw the re- 
 sult, could induce her to lie down and rest. " I 
 would obey you," she replied in meek submission, 
 "could you but calm the impulses which make 
 
CASSIAN. 243 
 
 me restless. I cannot sleep, good Nadascli ; I 
 cannot be at peace, my poor Katalin. My Sig- 
 mond is not here, — Lingotski hath forsaken me !" 
 
 The excellent man, deeply affected by her 
 emotion and its expression, ventured to remind 
 her of the claims of her unborn child. " May 
 it never breathe within this bitter world,'' she 
 replied with solemnity. " May it rest with its 
 mother in the stillness of the grave !" 
 
 And gradually, almost imperceptibly, the 
 afflicting disorganization of mind and body con- 
 sequent upon over-excitement, produced its most 
 frightful result ; and lolina Lingotski became 
 totally insensible to the evil and to its cruel 
 cause. A sense of weariness, — of pain, — of 
 oppression — she indeed endured; — of being sub- 
 jected to personal restraint, — and at length of 
 being overcome by sudden and imprecedented 
 anguish. But how long these sufferings were 
 protracted she knew not ; she was ignorant of 
 their nature, indifferent to their termination ; — 
 every power of existence seemed disarmed by a 
 deep — deep lethargy. 
 
244 CASSIAN. 
 
 Struggling with its oppression, she woke at 
 last, or as it seemed to her disordered faculties, 
 woke from a very long and uneasy slumber j and 
 found herself stretched upon her couch, in a 
 darkened room, and as she believed, — alone. 
 She lifted her wan wasted hands, and scarcely 
 recognized them as her own ; — she strove to raise 
 her feeble voice, but could not yet command 
 its accents; and presently vshe discerned two 
 persons who, by their voices, she knew to be her 
 faithful Katalin, and the wife of the hofrichter, 
 seated in a remote corner of her chamber. 
 
 '' She will never recover, I tell you Marthon," 
 said Katalin with faltering intonation. " Your 
 lord and mine had better have ended her days by 
 sabre blow or pistol shot, than by this cowardly 
 cruelty.'' 
 
 ^' Hush !'* said her companion; " such words 
 Katalin, are not safely spoken at Szent Miklos." 
 
 ^' Safely or not," answered the rough but 
 frank Hungarian, '* I would say it to his teeth. 
 My gracious lady whom I know, and all believe 
 to be as spotless from evil-thought, or evil-deed. 
 
CASSIAN. 245 
 
 as her poor helpless infant itself, is marked by 
 his capricious wilfulness with shame that will 
 end in death ; and Count Sigmond deserts her in 
 her hour of peril, but that he may pleasure his 
 wayward heart by wandering through lands as 
 lawless and Godless as himself. While his 
 son, — his first-born, — his heir, — is welcomed to 
 the light of life by ourselves, — his hirelings ; 
 and is offered at the baptismal fount by" — 
 
 " Peace, — peace," interrupted Frau Marthon, 
 '* the Countess moves." 
 
 She had indeed moved. At this first announce- 
 ment that she was in truth a mother, she had 
 started up for an instant, but only to relapse into 
 total insensibility. But the crisis of her disorder 
 was past, and safely past. Nadasch, in his 
 ensuing visit, announced that life and reason had 
 resumed their action ; and soon by her faint 
 questioning and gentle actions she gave token 
 of such perfect self-possession, that her request 
 to look upon her child —the child of her un- 
 consciousness, — was cheerfully acceded to ; and 
 the boy was laid beside her, on her bed of anguish. 
 
246 CASSIAN. 
 
 Those who have learned to estimate the joy, 
 and comfort, and ecstatic consciousness of mo- 
 therhood from the declarations of some beloved 
 wife, some cherished daughter, or happy sister, 
 can ill imagine the rapture, — the all-engrossing 
 intensity of delight which overcame the desolate 
 lolina, as she pressed her lip to the soft cheek of 
 her babe. A gush of refreshing tears revealed 
 her immediate perception of the likeness it bore 
 to its absent father ; for the boy had already num- 
 bered many months, and as it turned its full dark 
 eyes upon its bewildered mother, she blessed it, 
 herself, and Heaven, that nothing of Lingotski 
 was absent from the resemblance but his glance 
 of wild ferocity. '' Comforter of my blighted 
 soul !" murmured the Countess, as she held its 
 little hand in hers, ^* promise me to repay the 
 love I already bear thee, with a like affection. 
 The reed on which I have leant, hath pierced 
 me; — one by one, all on whom I relied for 
 earthly consolation, have deserted me ! do not 
 thou leave me, babe! do not thou injure me, my 
 child !" and as the little nursling, pleased by the 
 
CASSIAN. 247 
 
 sound of an unknown voice, smiled in seeming 
 acquiescence with her demands, she wept again, 
 and so bitterly, that her medical attendants re- 
 stricted the continuance of an interview so 
 affecting, and consigned her once more to silence 
 and repose. 
 
 But the following day, and every succeeding 
 one, her measure of happiness was prolonged, and 
 her strength appeared to return with restored 
 intellect and renewed comfort ; — reversing: the 
 law of nature, the mother appeared to gather life 
 and health from her child. Already she was 
 peraiitted to breathe the air of a fresher chamber, 
 from whose windows she was struck with surprise 
 by a token of the extent of mental alienation she 
 had endured ; the trees, which she had left leaf- 
 less and dark, had been clad with their verdant 
 summer mantle during her illness, and were al- 
 ready far advanced in autumnal decay ; yet she 
 knew it not. Her ear had been deaf to the voice 
 of time ! 
 
 And a change yet more complete, yet more 
 striking had intervened in the heart of lolina. 
 
1^4^ CASSIAN. 
 
 When her mind had sunk under the oppression 
 of disease, it had been filled with doubts of her 
 own worthiness, — with dread lest the punishment 
 inflicted by Lingotski might not have been 
 wholly unmerited, — ^with all those misgivings, in 
 short, which spring from the humility of an 
 amiable character mastered by overweening affec- 
 tion for a single object. Her love for Sigmond 
 had indeed invalidated all her best faculties. His 
 looks, his smiles, the slightest expression of his 
 will, the merest shew of his displeasure, had been 
 the prevailing interests of her existence, — her 
 being's end and aim ! — It was not so now. — The 
 sense of undeserved injury, of his harsh severity, 
 — ^had enlightened her heart with regard to his 
 haughty egotism, and to the facility with which 
 he had cast her from his bosom. The very- 
 smiles of her lovely infant bore a heavy accu- 
 sation against the coldness of that father who 
 came not, wrote not, sent not, to acquaint himself 
 with its well-doing. 
 
 *^My Emerich!" she would whisper to the 
 boy who had received at the desire of his 
 
CASSIAN. 249 
 
 future vassals, during the insensibility of one 
 parent and the absence of the other, the name 
 of his paternal grandsire, " my Emerich — I will 
 not breed thee up in the practice of Hungarian 
 virtues. Thou shalt never learn to be over- 
 susceptible in thine own feelings, yet callous 
 to those of others ; nor shalt thou become haughty 
 and self-proud, my son, if thy mother's patient 
 lowliness may example thy little heart." 
 
 By one effort alone, — one single, painful, per- 
 sonal effort, —did the Countess Lingotski on her 
 restoration to health and serenity, appear desirous 
 of recalling the past, or of adverting to the afflict- 
 ing and delicate position in which she had been 
 placed. Through the authority of the hofrichter, 
 she gathered together the vassals of the Szent 
 Miklos estate, even from its remotest districts ; 
 ostensibly for the celebration of a solemn mass of 
 thanksgiving in the chapel of the castle. At the 
 conclusion of the service, she took her young son 
 into her arms, and ascending the steps of the 
 altar, she gave audible thanks to God for her 
 deliverance from danger ; then rising from her 
 M 2 
 
250 CASSIAN. 
 
 knees, she imposed silence by an uplifted hand 
 upon the congregation, and with a tremulous but 
 distinct voice addressed herself to their attention. 
 <* My friends !" said she, *'my friends and fol- 
 lowers ! — let it be known among you that the 
 remnant of my days is destined to pass at Szent 
 Miklos ; and I pray Heaven that it may be ren- 
 dered peaceful by our mutual service and good 
 will. I am come among you under a cloud of 
 mystery and shame, which to me it is not ap- 
 pointed to clear up. But I feel that I owe some 
 measure of self- vindication unto that gentle ex- 
 pression of your sympathy and kindness, which I 
 find was lavished upon me during my hours of 
 peril; a sympathy, a loyal love, which I trust ye 
 will not hereafter refuse to bestow upon this 
 babe, — the child of your master's house !" She 
 held up her son towards them ; partly to conceal 
 the tears which would fain make their way into 
 her eyes at this allusion, — and a murmur of 
 humble regard towards herself and enthusiastic 
 devotion towards their young lord, burst from the 
 rude assembly. 
 
CASSIAN. 251 
 
 Once more she withdrew the child from before 
 her bowed head, and tearful face ; and turning to 
 the venerable officiating priest, by whom she was 
 beloved as a daughter, and who had sanctioned a 
 measure by which he trusted to set forth, in the 
 eyes of men, that innocence which had been 
 made manifest to himself under the seal of con- 
 fession, — she deposited the heir of Lingotski in 
 his venerable arms ; and renewed her address. 
 
 " Friends ! — you unto whom I feel it due to clear 
 myself, as best I may, from the foul stigma that 
 hath been cast upon me, — listen, and honour the 
 words which are spoken in the consecrated house 
 of God. I am innocent, ^^ she exclaimed dropping 
 upon her knees, and raising her hands to Heaven. 
 '* Thou, oh ! my Almighty protector ! knowest 
 me to be spotless of the sin with which I stand 
 accused ; and that my faith is unblemished 
 towards my wedded husband ; who, in blindness 
 or in cruelty, hath put suspicion upon me and 
 mine. Yet pardon him, oh, God! — and protect 
 his innocent child." 
 
 The venerable curate, with more of human 
 
252 CASSIAN. 
 
 emotion moistening his eyes than altogether 
 became the solemnity of his functions, now ap- 
 proached her, and replaced her boy within her 
 arms. Then laying his trembling hand upon her 
 head : '' Be of good cheer, my daughter," said 
 he ; '' and arise absolved of Heaven, and revered 
 of those who have so long and lavishly tasted the 
 mercies of thy charity. My blessing, and the 
 blessing of thy vassals be upon thee ; and if the 
 will of the Almighty permit, secure thee from 
 further sorrow !" — 
 
 By this public and energetic disculpation of 
 herself, the Countess was restored to that place 
 which she imagined herself to have forfeited in 
 the esteem of those around her. A delicate and 
 feeling mind can ill-support to know itself an 
 object of suspicion and contempt, even to the 
 lowest of its fellow creatures ; and lolina had 
 vainly sought to sleep in peace under the gorgeous 
 canopies of Szent Miklos, while she believed her- 
 self to be held lightly in name and fame by the 
 humble matrons of the village ; and now, aided 
 by her active benevolence, and by her cheerful 
 
 f 
 
CASSIAN. 253 
 
 submission to her destiny, she soon rose more 
 proudly than ever, to the due dignity of her 
 station. 
 
 Nor did she lack subjects for enjoyment, or 
 objects of interest in her solitude. — Her boy, her 
 beloved and beautiful boy, grew in strength and 
 intelligence, and animated the doating devotion of 
 poor Katalin into a rapture of wonder. Stringer 
 and Nadasch, keenly alive to the transcendent 
 excellence of their lovely mistress, to her coura- 
 geous self-reliance and unerring sweetness, wea- 
 ried themselves in exertions to divert and interest 
 her mind by unfolding to her the fruits of their 
 own able researches into the mysteries of nature ; 
 and by rendering easy and inviting, her own path 
 through the thorny ways of science. The 
 splendid library of the castle afforded a ready 
 resource against the weariness of loneliness ; and 
 even there, her taste was guided by the sugges- 
 tions of the good librarian, who was so well 
 skilled to direct her literary curiosity; — whose 
 society was equally acceptable from his con- 
 versational powers, and from the tact which 
 
254 CASSIAN. 
 
 taught him to withdraw into silence when con- 
 versation became irksome. Already too the early 
 labours of lolina in the amelioration of the pea- 
 sants of Szent Miklos began to reap their reward. 
 A village teeming with flowers, intersected by 
 productive gardens, and embellished by cleanli- 
 ness and activity, bore evidence to the good sense 
 and liberal kindness which had directed her 
 plans ; and without indulging in that busy offici- 
 ousness which, in the aid afforded to the poor, 
 delights to make war against every ancient and 
 innocent prejudice, and every harmless abuse, the 
 Grofney the beloved and revered Grofrie Lingot^ 
 ski, became the tutelaiy angel of those submitted 
 to her rule. 
 
 Her own splendid gardens, with their orange- 
 ries of molten gold, their hanging terraces and 
 glittering fountains, were called into brighter 
 lustre by the gentle interest she had long taken 
 in their details. Sure of an approving smile or 
 affable inquiry, the ministers of her will wrought 
 zealously in her service. The sun shone as 
 brightly at Szent Miklos as if no cloud of human 
 
CAS3IAX. 255 
 
 prejudice overhung its fair inmate; — returning 
 spring animated the groves with as tender a 
 green, autumn expanded their fruits as lavishly, 
 and summer poured forth the varying exuberance 
 of her blossoms upon the fragrant parterres, as 
 graciously as if all the magnats of Hungary had 
 been assembled there to look upon their labours ; 
 or as if the self-important lord of Lingotski 
 himself had commanded their exertions. 
 
 Meantime that wayward wanderer, stimulated 
 by his perversity of mind, or perhaps by the con- 
 sciousness of his unfitness to mingle in the 
 society of more polished countries, had shaped 
 his solitary course through Servia, Bosnia, and 
 Romelia, nor paused until he reached the shores 
 of the Bosphorus, where the wonders, and local 
 loveliness, and barbarous splendours of Constan- 
 tinople detained him for many months. Weary- 
 ing however of his lonely sojourn in a nation as 
 arrogant and unyielding as himself, among whom 
 he could neither exercise authority nor claim 
 regard and sympathy. Count Lingotski sought 
 the excitement of novelty by becoming the pro- 
 
256 CASSIAN. 
 
 prietor of a felucca and Hydriot crew ; and 
 bidding a hurried adieu to the European shore, 
 he committed himself, — his irresolution in every 
 good purpose, and his obstinate adherence to the 
 resolves of his rashness, — unto the keeping of 
 the winds and waves. 
 
 After cruising during the summer months in 
 the Levant, he visited in succession the ports 
 of the Morea, of Cyprus, and Sicily ; — some- 
 times tempted by the beauty of the scenery to 
 indulge for a time in inland excursions ; some- 
 times '' spell-bound amid the clustering Cy-^ 
 clades ;" at others braving the united perils of 
 pestilence and despotism on the Anatolian or 
 Egyptian shores. To all this insane restlessness 
 of mind and body, he believed himself urged by 
 superior sensibility, and an incapability of dwell- 
 ing under skies which afforded shelter to those 
 by whom he had been wronged. Driven by his 
 selfish petulance into vain extremes, he indulged 
 himself in voluntary martyrdom; and deceived 
 himself the while by an opinion that he had been 
 banished from his home and cauntry, by the 
 
CASSIAN. 257 
 
 existence of indissoluble ties at once revoltino- to 
 his feelings, and injurious to his honour. He 
 tortured himself into a delusion of having trusted, 
 and been deceived ; and could find no better 
 exercise for his indignation, than in marking to 
 the whole world his detection of the unsuspected 
 baseness of his wife, and his utter indifference 
 towards her child. By this wayward act of ex- 
 patriation, — an act wreaking upon his own head 
 the vengeance he had prepared for that of 
 another, — he condemned himself to a vagrant 
 existence in countries which claimed little interest 
 in his mind, and whose illiterate barbarism did 
 but serve to confirm and animate' the savage im- 
 periousness of his character. 
 
 Lingotski sometimes flattered himself that, in 
 his wanderings, his path might cross that of 
 Cassian Zeriny, of whose return to Pesth he 
 had departed ignorant ; and however well aware 
 that he had no grounds on which to declare his 
 animosity, and demand satisfaction, however 
 conscious that Cassian himself had been a victim 
 to the cruel deception he was prepared to resent, 
 
258 CASSIAN. 
 
 the Count would have sought no dearer indul- 
 gence for his ferocious hatied, than that of 
 crushing his rival into dust by any means how- 
 ever dark, — however deadly. 
 
 Such was Lingotski ! — such were the evil 
 passions which national perversity, and an un- 
 subdued temperament had let loose upon the wild 
 wastes of an untutored mind. Among the earlier 
 feudal triumphs of the Magyari, he might have 
 shone as an intrepid warrior ; or aided to drive 
 the turbaned Turk and shaven Tartar from the 
 land of his fathers. But as a Magnat of modern 
 Hungary, — that kingless kingdom, — as a citizen 
 of a rising country, or an enlightened member of 
 polished society, he was altogether profitless and 
 unacceptable. Yet upon the deck of his little 
 vessel he would sit with folded arms, gazing upon 
 the blue waters till his eyes ached again, enwrapt 
 in contemplative admiration of his own magna- 
 nimity in having forborne to strike the offending 
 parties with a retributive hand ; and abusing him- 
 self with an heroic conviction of being the most 
 generous, most injured, and most regretted of 
 mankind. 
 
CASSIAN. 259 
 
 In spite of this unmeaning inflation of charac- 
 ter, some softening impulses would occasionally 
 suppress his starts of passion, and moderate 
 his indignation. The remembrance of lolina, 
 of her lowliness and loveliness, and even a 
 persuasion of her devoted attachment to the 
 husband so ill-matched with her sweetness, 
 would sometimes steal into his mind ; and em- 
 bittering the mental picture he delighted to draw 
 of the home he had abjured, and the ties and 
 tranquil existence he had abandoned, would at 
 intervals prompt him to return, — confess his 
 errors, — throw himself in his turn upon her 
 mercy, — and re-instate himself in the honourable 
 position he had wilfully renounced. But the 
 shame of wayward pride withered the flowers of 
 grace as they sprung ; and from an accession of 
 such wild emotions, he would rush forth into 
 some wilder wandering, rouse himself unto 
 harsher severity of word and action, and, — as 
 time passed on, and the decencies of civilized life 
 declined in their influence, — into the coarsest 
 excesses of licentiousness. 
 
260 CASSIAN. 
 
 Blinded by his presumptuous visions of national 
 and personal dignity, Count Lingotski now per- 
 suaded himself that it was necessary, in order to 
 avoid the deference and distinction inseparable 
 from his patrician announcement, to assume some 
 obscure German appellation ,* and while his lavish 
 expenditure and haughty assumption attracted 
 more notice, and insured more servility than 
 would have waited upon a Lichtenstein or an 
 Estherhazy, he sought to pass unnoticed in the 
 character of Herr Alois Brunn, a merchant of 
 Frankfort ; a character ill-supported by the ex- 
 tensive suite, composed of a remnant of adroit 
 vagabonds from every country he had visited, 
 which formed his escort. Some among this 
 motley crew had been selected for their intrepi- 
 dity, — some for their submissiveness, — some, as 
 it would appear, for their personal beauty. 
 Among these was a page, an Armenian youth, 
 whose graceful agility, and feminine regularity of 
 features, formed a singular contrast with the 
 almost ruffianly characterization of his compa- 
 nions ; but whose frank address and cool bearing 
 
CASSIAN* 261 
 
 towards their lord, differed yet more strangely 
 from their humble devotedness. 
 
 It chanced that Count Lingotski, early in his 
 fourth year of banishment, became involved, in 
 the course of an expedition to the cataracts of 
 upper Egypt, in a serious brawl with the inhabi- 
 tants of a villao^e in which his lawless train had 
 been quartered for the night. A scufl3e ensued, 
 which could only be terminated by the inter- 
 ference of the Aga of the district ; the delinquents 
 were immediately imprisoned, and the soi-disant 
 Alois Brunn found himself submitted to usao:e 
 infinitely more rough than is commonly familiar 
 to a Magnat of the Magyari. At this irritating 
 and perplexing juncture, the arrival of two Frank 
 travellers who, although unsupported by suite or 
 equipage splendid as that of the delinquent, had 
 in their favour the advantages of mild address, 
 knowledge of the language, and diplomatic pass- 
 ports of the most authoritative kind, — gave a 
 new turn to the affray. A few fair words, and a 
 few sequins dexterously administered, bought 
 concessions that obtained concessions in return ; 
 
263 
 
 CASSIAN. 
 
 and the culprit and his disorderly band, rescued 
 from their dilemma, were permitted to continue 
 their journey without molestation. 
 
 The two strangers, or, as they had now become 
 known to their protege, — Colonel Howard, an 
 English Catholic in the service of Austria, and 
 the Chevalier de Courval, a young Parisian, — 
 received the warm thanks of the Count with 
 gentlemanly cordiality and frankness ; and being 
 bound towards the same destination as himself, 
 they unhesitatingly proposed to join him for the 
 remainder of the journey, as a means of securing 
 mutual safety and reciprocal advantage. Having 
 no reason to allege against the arrangement, 
 Lingotski thus found himself forced into com- 
 panionship with men of his own degree ; but who, 
 although they met him upon terms of equality, 
 displayed in every exigency and in every hour, 
 their superiority of address, information, and 
 knowledge of the world. 
 
 The Count possessed indeed no qualifications, 
 save those of a fine person and an inherent 
 dignity of demeanour, '^ to shew the world he 
 
CASSIAN. 263 
 
 was a gentleman." Tact — breeding — or elegant 
 acquirements he had none ; and to supply their 
 place he could no longer, in his assumed cha- 
 racter, twirl his mustachios and name himself 
 an Hungarian, — the usual apology for ignorance 
 and ruffianism among his countrymen ; and 
 a perception of his deficiences occurred more 
 frequently to his mind during one month's inter- 
 course with Howard and Courval, than might 
 have chanced during a century of Hungarian 
 vegetation. And he had no means of lessening 
 the disparity between himself and his compagnons 
 de voyage. Did he seek occasion to vaunt with 
 assumed indifference in their hearing the pre- 
 eminence of his native but unacknowledged 
 country — her freedom, and oligarchical privi- 
 leges, — Colonel Howard, by a few unanswerable 
 arguments, failed not to vindicate the superior 
 claims of his own England to the crown of liberty, 
 and the palm of national precedence. Did he 
 venture to describe in the hearing of Courval, 
 although with affected unconcern, the luxuries of 
 Hungarian life, — the glories of Szent Miklos 
 
264 cassiaN* 
 
 itself,^or the splendour of Buda and its pa- 
 laces, — his auditor, a Parisian to his heart's 
 core, would reply " En fait de palais, 
 
 ' Dans sa pompe 61^gante admirez Chantilly, 
 De h6ros en heros, d' age en age embelli !* 
 
 car je vous avoue, mofi cher, que les creneaux, et les 
 tourelles, et les oubliettes de votre petit bout de terre 
 Barbaresque, me font pitiL Ausi parmi nous 
 autres on divise le monde en deux parties, — Paris 
 et le desert ; et le monde civilise, entre La Chaussee 
 d'Antin et le Faubourg St. Germain T 
 
 Sometimes Lingotski would affect to silence 
 this flippant jargon by a resumption of his most 
 arrogant and most stately dignity ; but the heavy 
 sabre-blows of his pride were inevitably foiled by 
 an adversary who had the ready rapier-play oi 
 persiflage at his fingers' ends ; and if by some 
 deviation into a sentimental mood on the part of 
 his companion, he was occasionally betrayed, in 
 his turn, into a moderated display of his mental 
 heroism, Courval would silence him in a moment 
 by, " Ah ! vous voild aux nues ! excusez queje voue 
 
CASSIAN. 265 
 
 y dhe adieu ; car je vous avoue que les altitudes 
 m'etourdisentj et que Vexaltation m'ennuie.''' 
 The Count now found from experience that his 
 utmost hauteur had no power to silence the 
 flightiness of his companion; — that his coldest 
 -reserve was met with laughter, his grandiosity 
 with mystification ; — the lesson w as a bitter one 
 to the lord of twice ten thousand Hungarian 
 serfs, and the proprietor of the Szent Miklos 
 dungeons ! 
 
 Howard, on the other hand, whose reserved 
 gravity inspired Lingotski at first with a hope of 
 sympathy, was the most matter-of-fact of human 
 beings. He was indolent by character and con- 
 stitution, and therefore permitted himself to 
 derive a degree of amusement from the shallow 
 vivacity of his Parisian companion, which his 
 better judgment might have reproved ; but he 
 had lived in the world, — the great world, — from 
 his youth upwards, and had been too completely 
 disciplined to its conventions to enter into the 
 flig^hts of a character so new as that of Count 
 Lingotski. If, as it has been said, the minds of 
 
 N 
 
266 CASSIAN. 
 
 men, like the pebbles of the brook, become 
 rounded and polished by friction against their 
 fellows, it was little to be wondered at that the 
 Count's should present so angular a surface, or 
 that the remonstrances of Colonel Howard on the 
 subject of their new companion should be met, 
 on the part of Courval, with a declaration ^^ que 
 c' ktoit un original piquant comme un herisson de 
 tous les c6tes." 
 
 The Englishman was in truth and heart, that 
 which the Chevalier affected to appear ; — a cosmo- 
 polite and philosopher. Excluded from the service 
 of his country by religious disabilities, he had 
 pursued his fortunes with distinction under a 
 foreign banner ; and had been compelled to seek 
 his happiness and forward his views through 
 single exertion and unsupported self-reliance, 
 until the higher impulses of his nature had 
 dwindled into a degree of selfish insouciance* 
 Patriotism, disinterestedness, enthusiasm, become 
 supernumerary virtues to the mere mercenary 
 soldier. "We birds of prey,*' he would say, 
 '' we outlaws of the air, who make our nests in 
 
CASSIAN. 267 
 
 pleasant places, and find new homes and adopt 
 new habits at every remove, are at once the most 
 philosophic and the most worthless of our kind ,* 
 our best instincts avail us not, and we are 
 unbound by moral law or social obligation ! " 
 But Howard was any thing but worthless. 
 Learned without pedantry, brave without bravado, 
 generous without ostentation, he concealed under 
 his lassitude of demeanour and pococurante air, 
 the warm heart and conscientious honesty of his 
 country ; and nothing but the sprightly activity 
 with w^hich Courval ministered to his idleness, 
 and the good-breeding which rendered his inter- 
 course so easy and cheerful, would have made his 
 levity endurable to the proud Englishman. 
 
 They had quitted Vienna together, in the lan- 
 guid pause succeeding the Carnival, and had 
 since traversed Italy and the Morea ; but during 
 their many solitary hours, Courval had found it 
 impossible to penetrate beyond the surface of his 
 companion's confidence ; and Howard had some 
 right earnest feelings hid under his armour of 
 proof, which he was too worldly-mse to bare to 
 
268 CASSIAN. 
 
 the whips and scorns of a brother worldling. The 
 Chevalier had however formed his own guesses 
 on the subject; — and the guesses, or knowledge, 
 or inventions, of a Frenchman lie most liberally 
 at the service of the world. While Lingotski 
 therefore and himself spurred on their Arabian 
 ponies through the sand, he failed not to trace 
 and embellish a highly imaginative picture of their 
 lagging friend, — ses gestes et faits. — " Did you 
 but know," said he, in a mysterious tone, "the 
 labour of resolution it cost notice cher Colonel to 
 desert Vienna, — where I found him kneeling in a 
 transport of devotion at a shrine fairer and richer 
 than that of your Black Virgin of Altotting, — 
 you would wonder indeed what could have em- 
 barked him ' dans cette galere! — // etoii amou- 
 reux comme un Paladin /' " 
 
 "And how did you induce your friend to quit 
 the presence of a beloved object for the mere 
 excitation of travel?" 
 
 " Oh ! I had forgotten that you too are a Bro- 
 ther in the Faith, and follow no surer polestar 
 than 
 
 II lampeggiar del angelica riso ! 
 
CAssiAx. 269 
 
 but, — sauf voire vocation chevaleresque, it was 
 Howard's morality which sent him wandering into 
 Africa. There was a husband in the case ; and 
 neither the Colonel nor the Principessa being 
 indigenous to the bella paese where their ac- 
 quaintance commenced, they could by no means 
 determine themselves to the decorous indecorum 
 of an understood servitu ; — and so they parted, — 
 and yonder he is, — as yellow and as meditative 
 as love and despair can make him." 
 
 ^'And the lady?" 
 
 "I have not the honour to knov/ her; bat 
 Howard has lately acquainted me that by the 
 death of her septuagenarian lord she has become 
 a widow, and wealthy as a Begum. And here 
 poor Howard's magnanimity is again in the way ; 
 for he has no better prospects wherewith to 
 endow the lady of his love, than the pride and 
 the poverty of an English Catholic cadet. Que 
 voulez vous de cet imbroglio ?" 
 
 On the subject of his own affairs, Courval was 
 more than equally voluble ; but when he sought, 
 in return, to make himself better acquainted with 
 
270 CASSIAN. 
 
 those of '^ Monsieur Alois," he found himself 
 repulsed with impassable dignity ; and was fain 
 to vent his dissatisfaction in the ears of the list- 
 less Howard. 
 
 " Apres tout/' whispered he significantly, 
 '' moyennant sa magnijicence, notre trouvaille mys- 
 terieuse ne vaut rien. C'est une nullite grandiose, 
 -^petulant comme un ecolier, et maussade comme tin 
 almanack !" 
 
 Yet notwithstanding these trifling disagree- 
 ments, notwithstanding the flippant pertinacity 
 with which Courval delighted to press his in- 
 quiries respecting the Armenian page, Lingotski 
 could not conceal from himself that the society 
 of his new friends had become essential to his 
 enjoyment. In spite of his prejudices, he was 
 attracted by the calm manliness of the one, — the 
 exciting gaiety of the other ; and he had seldom 
 passed less tedious hours than those devoted to 
 his Egyptian tour. On their return to Alexandria, 
 he indulged in the hospitable warmth of his na- 
 tional character, by persuading both Howard and 
 Courval to embark in his polacca, and pass some 
 
CASSIAN. 271 
 
 time with him at Venice, where he had already 
 secured a palace for the winter. And dismissing 
 from his motley train half a dozen Mamelukes, 
 a Georgian, a Tartar, and a Zantiot, Count 
 Lingotski set sail for the Adriatic and its am- 
 phibious city. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Infirm of feeling as of. purpose, — blown 
 
 About by every breath, — a precious judge 
 
 For Venice ! 
 
 The Foscari. 
 
 Worlds mirrored in the ocean, — lofty walls 
 
 Of those tall piles and sea-girt palaces 
 
 Whose porphyry pillars and whose costly fronts, 
 
 Like altars ranged along the broad canal. 
 
 Seem each a trophy of some mighty deed 
 
 Reared up from out the waters. 
 
 Byron. 
 
 '' Vivent les souvenirs!" exclaimed the Cheva- 
 lier de Courval as, on the day succeeding their 
 arrival, they '^ swam in a gondola," betvi^een 
 palaces encrusted vs^ith marble, presenting alter- 
 nately the romantic barbarisms of Moresco 
 grandeur, and the classical purity of Italian 
 architecture. " Here we have Howard, wrapt in 
 
CASSIAN. 273 
 
 the enchantments of fairy delusion, with the 
 names of Desdemona and Shylock and Priuli 
 hovering upon his lips; — here am I, with Titian's 
 Danae glistening in my eyes, and the ' fatezze 
 della Biondina'' lisping in my ears; — and here 
 is Brunn, with — what shall I say? — Bedamar's 
 conspiracy lowering upon his brow?" — 
 
 *' Say less, my good friend," replied Howard, 
 anxious to moderate his sarcastic tone," say less 
 and you will hear the more." 
 
 " Let my last word then be a prediction, gen- 
 tlemen, that before you have accustomed your- 
 selves to cleave these silent waters from Sabbath 
 to Sabbath, you will rejoice to exchange the 
 measured plash of the oars, and the shrill whistle 
 of the gondoliers, for the sprightly lucubrations 
 of Jules de Courval ; who, par parentMse allows 
 himself but half that period, to become wearied 
 to death of the very names of Piazza and Rialto. 
 One had need to be an eel or a bulrush to 
 flourish in this diluvio raccolto.^' 
 
 Howard took a long pinch of snuff, the only 
 reply he ever vouchsafed to his friend's explosions 
 N 2 
 
274 CASSIAN. 
 
 of verbosity ; and addressing himself to the gon- 
 doUerij he inquired the name of a palace under 
 whose colonnades they were at that moment 
 g:lidinsc ; at the foot of whose marble stairs several 
 gondolas lay moored ; — and from whose balconies 
 the sweetest flowers overhung. '^ II Palazzo 
 Megliabecchi," replied the man in the lisping 
 Venetian patois; adding some supplementary 
 information which, although it failed to reach the 
 ears of Lingotski or Courval, had the effect of 
 bringing a rush of colour into Howard's face, and 
 of silencing him for the rest of the day. 
 
 '' You see that my predictions are approaching 
 to verification," observed the chevalier, pointing 
 out this circumstance to the notice of the Count. 
 " Fie, on this city of submarine palaces! — this 
 stone and mortar illustration of the Fata Mor- 
 gaimy — this monumental effigy of the deluge ! its 
 influence is beginning to deaden all our energies." 
 
 '^ We number but eight days to the Carnival," 
 answered the Count carelessly. 
 
 " Grazie alia madre di Diol But why such a 
 supererogation of gratitude ? when Arlecchino 
 
CASSIAN. 275 
 
 will probably prove web-footed, and Brighella 
 tremble with a tertian." 
 
 " Ay/' replied Lingotski looking up to the 
 ensign of the double eagle displayed over a 
 neighbouring Dogana, — " Dulness hath indeed 
 stretched her leaden sceptre over Venice ! Those 
 very voices which were tuned of yore to the 
 honied measures of Tasso, or to Ariosto's wilder 
 music, are now fain to breathe the harsh language 
 of the Schwabische swine, who have laid the 
 Bucentaur to rot in vile inactivity upon the 
 waters." 
 
 " How !" exclaimed Courval, — " You an anti- 
 Hapsburgian? I had believed you to be an 
 Austrian." 
 
 '' Rather a beaten hound !" shouted Lingotski, 
 more indignantly than altogether became his 
 incognito. '* I am an Hungarian !" 
 
 Howard roused by his vehemence, looked to- 
 wards him with interest. " I congratulate you," 
 said he. ** You belong to a nation of brave and 
 honourable men ; and my liking had long anti- 
 cipated your avowal." He was about to indulge 
 
276 CASSIAN. 
 
 in some further question or comment, when for- 
 tunately for Lingotski, they paused before the 
 Abrisi palace ; and the chef d'auvres of Canova, 
 the Hebe and dying Socrates, diverted the atten- 
 tion of his fellow-travellers from his obvious em- 
 barrassment. 
 
 '^ J'avois Men predit que ce seroit une partie 
 manqu^e,'' said Courval, as he entered the apart- 
 ment of the Count on the following day. " Ho- 
 ward has accidentally anchored himself in the 
 very haven of his hopes ; while we are weather- 
 bound in a calm. Yonder fair creature whom 
 we saw yesterday ascending the portico of the 
 Palazzo Megliabecchi, turns out to be the veiled 
 I sis of his mysterious worship, — the fair one 
 ' che sola a lei par donna,' " 
 
 " Good," replied Lingotski, yawning. 
 
 '^ Good? — my dear friend, consider the horror 
 of enjoying the intervals of a lover's leisure, — 
 r alternation d'une liaison a sentiment !—C' est a en 
 
 7nounr i 
 
 I" 
 
 '^ I, at least shall die of no such distempera- 
 ture," observed Lingotski coldly. *' I trust that 
 
CASSIAN. 277 
 
 as I was able to drink and eat and sleep previous 
 to my acquaintance with the English Colone], I 
 may find in the novelties of an unexplored city 
 a very satisfactory replacement of his society." 
 
 " You intend in this observation no slight to 
 my friend, — Monsieur Alois Brunn ?" 
 
 " To Colonel Howard ? none whatever. I 
 esteem him as an honourable man,— as one in 
 earnest, even in his attachments, — and conse- 
 quently above the reach of any man's contempt." 
 
 '^ In earnest?" retorted Courval, distracted 
 between the soupirades of one of his " co-mates 
 and brothers in exile," and the heroics of the 
 other. " In earnest ! and so am I, and so are 
 you; — which does not render our society the less 
 irksome to those who incline to ^ doff the world 
 aside and bid it pass !' " 
 
 " No genuine impulse of the mind can become 
 contemptible," persisted Lingotski. 
 
 *' No7ie? — neither vanity, nor envy, nor jea- 
 lousy? — Jealousy, Monsieur Brunn — which" — 
 
 '^ Shall we visit the Zeccha to-day," said the 
 Count, dreading the flight of an arrow from 
 
278 CASSIAN. 
 
 Courval's venomed quiver, yet irresistibly im- 
 pelled to resume the conversation as they tra- 
 versed St. Mark's Place in seeming amity. 
 ** Jealousy, Monsieur de Courval, if you would 
 thereby designate the vague peevish suspicion of 
 a weak mind, incurs, and perhaps justly, the 
 scorn of the multitude. But there is a passion 
 which we dishonour by the same hackneyed 
 name, and which claims pre-eminence as the 
 most intense of earthly feelings. Such jealousy, 
 for we know it by no nobler appellation, can exist 
 but in an elevated and delicate mind, and resem- 
 bles its meaner shadow, but as the reptile we 
 crush beneath our feet may image the serpent 
 of the desart, or a cotter's hearth may portray 
 the eternal volcano of nature." 
 
 " Vous parlez avec heaucoup d'onction,*' ob- 
 served the Chevalier, willing to probe the wound 
 whose sensitive soreness he had unwittingly dis- 
 covered, and still attributed to his importunate 
 notice of the Armenian page. " For my own 
 share I can plead guilty to no such exaltation of 
 mind as appears requisite to engender this 
 
CASSIAN. 279 
 
 monster-passion ; and as to yourself, my dear 
 Brunn, — you who are so young, — so eminently 
 gifted to win and wear the favours of lady-love, 
 are equally unskilled to dissert upon the cha- 
 racter of its propensities. — I on cannot have 
 proved infidelity or desertion ?" 
 
 " Llfidelity /" replied Lingotski in his -loftiest 
 tone," infidelity is incapable of exciting the 
 passion I would designate ; — infidelity can cause 
 but the emotions of — contempt — or — revenge. 
 A faithless mistress I should reward v.'ith scorn ; 
 — a faithless wife, with death.'' 
 
 " You are earnest now, indeed," said Courval, 
 affecting a deep interest in the rhapsodies of his 
 companion, " but what besides infidelity can 
 possibly provoke a jealous mind ?" 
 
 '^ A suspicion, or belief, that the bosom we love 
 hath given way to evil feelings, — that the will 
 which guards our happiness hath broken trust, — 
 that, — in some stage of its being, — the heart we 
 would hold sacred hath been haunted by another 
 image than our own." 
 
 " A most Quixotic refinement," answered Cour- 
 
280 CASSIAN. 
 
 val, gravely, '* a most exclusive principle ! but 
 you surely jest?" 
 
 " Do I jest?" exclaimed the Count with 
 bitterness, ^^ do / jest — I, who in pursuance of 
 these views, guided by these principles, have 
 deserted my country, my degree, — the wife whom 
 I adored, — ^the heir on whom my eyes had never 
 rested !" 
 
 ^' C'est un enragt qui nous arrive des petit es 
 maisons/' thought Courval, as the excited Lin- 
 gotski strode away to calm his perturbed feelings 
 in solitude, " un veritable heros de melo-drame /" 
 and when, in the course of the evening, he encoun- 
 tered Howard on the stairs of the Fenice theatre, 
 he could not prevail on himself to compassionate 
 his evident hurry and pre-occupation until he had 
 disburdened his mind of his new conjectures. 
 
 *' This has been a day of discoveries," said 
 he, clinging to the arm of the resisting Howard. 
 *' Notre compagnon de voyage^ que je presse?itois 
 ou Prince, ou polisson,- commence a se developper* 
 Figurez vous mon cher, que notre illustre incognito 
 se vante d'avoir ahandonne sa patrie, renonce a une 
 
CASSIAN. 281 
 
 femme adoree, et rejete son enfant mtme avant sa 
 naissance, pour f aire honneur a une theorie qui,'' — 
 
 " It must be himself, — it can be no other than 
 her brother ! Sidonia's presage spoke true," ex- 
 claimed Howard. 
 
 *^ Without inquiring further, without pausing 
 to guess who may be the Sidonia whose very 
 name hath brought the colour into your cheeks, 
 allow me to confirm your supposition. In the 
 many personal narratives with which I have been 
 favoured by our theorizing friend, ' my sister 
 Sidonia and I, — I and Sidonia/ have been the 
 animating impulse." 
 
 "Where is Brunn— can I see him?" exclaimed 
 Howard, extricating himself from the Chevalier's 
 detaining grasp. 
 
 *^ He is at this moment seated yonder in our 
 box, — in a cognoscente attitude, with a very 
 Byronic curl upon his upper lip." 
 
 Howard was off in a moment. " Stay," said 
 Courval, " I have a rioht to assist at the 
 denouement ;'' — but Howard stayed not — paused 
 not even for breath to render his explanations 
 
282 CASSIAN. 
 
 intelligible. His only object, and it was soon 
 and happily fulfilled, was to bring Lingotski into 
 the arms^ of the Princess Betthyani. " Dearest 
 Sigmond ! " whispered she, when the three were 
 seated together in happy confidence in the boudoir 
 of the Palazzo Megliabecchi, " you have caused 
 me many tears, — unspeakable anxiety, — but let 
 all be forgotten in the happiness of our re- 
 union.'' 
 
 And the re-union proved indeed a source of 
 happiness to the little group. Sidonia, since the 
 mysterious departure of her brother, had under- 
 gone the most painful uncertainty as to his 
 destiny, as well as much secret uneasiness relative 
 to the views of Colonel Howard. The latest act 
 of her deceased lord had been to bequeath his 
 only son, now rising into maturity, to her sole 
 discretion; and to endow her with lavish marks 
 of his continued love and esteem. But although 
 the Princess found in these evidences of con- 
 fidence the best reward of the conscientious 
 self-government of her wedded life, and in the 
 precious task committed to her care, her best 
 
CASSIAN. 283 
 
 consolation, — although she was received with a 
 rapture of admiration in the superior circle of 
 that remotest city of the Austrian states which, 
 in accordance with her husband's will, she had 
 chosen for her residence, — yet the strange disap- 
 pearance of Lingotski, — the grievous interruption 
 of his wedded happiness, — and in a less degree, 
 the remembrance of that honoured and faithful 
 friend who had withdrawn himself from her 
 society only on finding that it had become too dear 
 to his heart, — prevented her from entering into 
 the pleasures of the world, or embellishing her 
 lonely existence with hopes of brighter days. 
 
 lolina, — Sigmond, — Howard, — the three beings 
 whom she regarded with the fondest preference, 
 appeared strangely and hopelessly wrested from 
 her affections; and Princess Betthyani, in the 
 pride of her beauty, and the matured intelligence 
 of her mind, was already sinking into a depres- 
 sion of spirit which accorded ill with her brilliant 
 position in the world, or with the joyous vivacity 
 of her earlier years. Her son too was necessarily 
 withdrawn from her society by the studies and 
 
584 
 
 CASSIAN. 
 
 pursuits befitting his age; — and she was be- 
 ginning to find in Venice a tedious vacuity, when 
 Colonel Howard, — the well-remembered, regretted 
 Howard, —suddenly presented himself, although 
 upon the footing of distant friendship, at the 
 Palazzo Megliabecchi ; and scarcely had the 
 emotions of her secret joy subsided, when she 
 found herself restored through his means to the 
 long lost society of her brother. 
 
 With what pride did she point out to Sig- 
 mond's observation the resemblance borne by the 
 young Prince her son to his maternal house,— to 
 Lingotski himself j and how earnestly did she 
 long to inquire whether the young heir of his 
 honours shared in the same endearing distinction ! 
 But from his careful avoidance of all allusion to 
 Szent Miklos or to lolina, she perceived that 
 the disgusts which had driven him from home 
 remained unabated, and that his heart was still 
 closed against the wife he had so fondly loved. 
 Such consolation however as she might derive 
 from his friendship for Howard, was amply at her 
 service ; and Lingotski, whose pride was of the 
 
CAS SI AN. 285 
 
 most disinterested character, and who found in 
 noble blood a welcome exchange for the gifts of 
 fortune, was warm in his furtherance of the timid 
 suit of the reserved Englishman. 
 
 ^^ You love Sidonia," said he, — *^ my sister 
 loves you in return, and has wealth for both. 
 You are equally noble, true, generous, and 
 honourable ; — in Heaven's name w^hat w^ould vou 
 more for happiness ?" Thus affectionately pressed 
 upon her acceptance, the Princess did not long 
 delay those avowals which insured the happiness 
 of Colonel Howard ; who had now a double 
 motive for the anxious interest with which he 
 strove to influence the mind of his wdld brother ; 
 and to win him to a sober character of manly 
 firmness and dignity. 
 
 The increasing confidence and daily intercourse 
 of the brother and sister, could not long admit of 
 their relative positions of misconception and delu- 
 sion ; and the busy intervention of the Chevalier 
 de Coun^al undesignedly tended to assist in their 
 mutual enlightenment. In his anxiety to com- 
 ment to the fair Sidonia upon Lingotski's strange 
 
286 CASSIAN. 
 
 principles of action, he unfolded so much of his 
 theory, as forced upon her remembrance the terms 
 of her brother's declarations touching the guilt 
 of lolina ; and in her ensuing interview with 
 Sigmond, she confirmed her doubts by such con- 
 fessions as at once revealed the innocence of his 
 unhappy wife, and made manifest her own invo- 
 luntary share in the injustice to which she had 
 become a victim. 
 
 With all the warmth of her ingenuous heart, 
 she instantly avowed herself guilty of the only 
 deception which had been practised against him ; 
 and in her anxiety to vindicate Iblina's sincerity, 
 she hastened to place in his hands that letter 
 which, had its prayers prevailed, would have 
 saved him a world of irritation and injustice. 
 Count Lingotski, whose mind was already sub- 
 dued into something of a more gentle tone and 
 reasonable frame by the influence and example of 
 his new friend, and by the restraints of an ex- 
 tended society, was staggered, perplexed, and 
 even deeply touched by the feelings of humility 
 and affection expressed in the letter of his wife. 
 
CASSIAN. 287 
 
 But in acknowledging that the blame of conceal- 
 ment rested wholly with the Princess, — in avow- 
 ing that his judgment had been in the first in- 
 stance precipitate, and his vengeance immoderate, 
 he allotted to the absent Countess a new imper- 
 fection in his estimation. 
 
 '' It is difficult," says the adage, " to forgive 
 those whom we have injured!" But how much 
 more difficult for a proud spirit to acknowledge 
 its error, — to sue for forgiveness ! Lingotski had 
 not the generosity requisite for such a victory 
 over himself ; and although he permitted his sis- 
 ter to express in a letter to the deserted Countess, 
 their mutual sense of having condemned her 
 most unjustly, he shewed no desire or intention 
 of returning to Szent Miklos. False shame, — 
 the consciousness of having forfeited lolina's 
 esteem, — of having secretly formed degrading 
 connexions, — and the dread of renewing and 
 re-uniting the broken chain of domestic habits, 
 retained him at Venice. 
 
 ^' Leave him to himself," said Howard in reply 
 to Sidonia's entreaties that he would urge the 
 
288 CASSIAN. 
 
 claims of lolina. " Leave him to time and 
 nature. The sight of your son, the sight of our 
 mutual affection has already softened his heart 
 to gentler emotions ; and open interference with 
 his intentions would but arm his pride against 
 yielding to their suggestion." 
 
 " I dread the influence of Courval," observed 
 Princess Betthyani, still unconvinced. *^ Sig- 
 mond, with all his pride and affected self- 
 possession, is little proof against ridicule ; and 
 the Chevalier has it in his power by one fool-born 
 jest upon ' les scenes de famille,' or ' F abjuration 
 magjianime d'un man desabnse/ to mar all our 
 endeavours." 
 
 ^' You are mistaken, dear Sidonia. Courval, 
 unintentionally, I acknowledge — has served our 
 cause with better weapons than our own. His 
 restless love of change has lately expended itself 
 in projecting a Carpathian tour ; and I have suc- 
 ceeded in persuading him that it could not be 
 undertaken more advantageously than under 
 Lingotski's protection. We must not let his 
 intentions languish ; animate them if you can by 
 
cassian. 289 
 
 a description of the wild beauties of Szent Mik- 
 16s, — its boar hunts, and bear hunts, — its mines 
 and forests ; try the effect of your eloquence with 
 him Sidonia — my own heart suggests that it will 
 be mighty indeed." 
 
 " And yet," replied Sidonia, '' I dread the 
 influence of his worldly maxims and selfish views 
 upon my brother at this delicate crisis." 
 
 The apprehensions of the Princess were more 
 than justly founded. The Chevalier de Courval 
 possessed one source of influence over the mind 
 of Lingotski, wholly unsuspected by those so 
 deeply interested in his happiness. By accident, 
 or by favour of his prying curiosity, he had made 
 himself master of a secret which the Count had 
 too much respect for Howard to confide to his 
 ear; although it involved embarrassments which 
 his assistance might have overcome, and which 
 formed a chief obstacle to the Count's return to 
 Szent Miklos. 
 
 Harak the Armenian page, whose questionable 
 appearance had so often called forth the insinu- 
 ations of Courval, had opposed with bold per- 
 
290 CASSIAN. 
 
 severance every prayer, command, or attempt at 
 bribery, by which Count Lingotski sought to 
 insure her return to her native country. *' I 
 forsook my home," said the unhappy creature, 
 '^ renounced my sex, my fame, my hopes of 
 happiness at your bidding. I follovs^ed you from 
 affection, — no meaner motive. Ere you took this 
 Frank into your counsels, they were honourable 
 ones, Lingotski ; and though you were even then 
 a- weary of me, you thought not to cast me out 
 to shame; — for you knew that my father's doors 
 were barred against me, and that it was yourself 
 had closed ^them irrevocably against the outcast. 
 Your love is past, — mine perhaps is failing, — 
 but hatred or policy must henceforth bind us 
 together. — Return if you will to Hungary, — I 
 shall still follow your footsteps, in the guise of 
 an humble and unimportunate servant, but inse- 
 parahly. You told me you had a wife whom you 
 loathed, — a child whom you disowned, — and 
 bade me replace both ; and to-day, you meanly 
 return to their arms, and would throw me off to 
 misery and dishonour, — but this shall not be 
 
CASSIAN. 291 
 
 You must trust to the discretion which has still 
 kept your secret, but you must not deny me the 
 poor boon of yielding you those services which 
 perhaps none other would accept from hands so 
 degraded as those of Harak. — By the heaven 
 which is above us, Lingotski, you shall never 
 force me to leave you !" 
 
 In vain the Count, who had now determined 
 on revisiting his long-deserted home, attempted 
 to counteract this perplexing determination, — in 
 vain he stormed and threatened. Harak was as 
 impetuous and as resolute as himself; and after 
 intimidating the astonished Courval by tossing 
 the bag of ducats with which he had undertaken 
 to arrange the affair, into the Canal Grande, the 
 page succeeded in gaining the day. 
 
 ^^ Sigmond, I perceive, retains the services of 
 that insolent boy," said Howard as he accom- 
 panied his friends to the shore whence they were 
 to embark for Fiume. " My suspicions are thus 
 proved groundless ; — as a man of honour, he 
 would not of course pollute the habitation of his 
 wife with a diso;uised mistress." 
 
292 CASSIAN. 
 
 Courvai replied by a smile of doubtful meaning', 
 and a burst of enthusiasm respecting the promised 
 pleasures of their expedition. *^ Think," he ex- 
 claimed, '^ of a bailli da village haranguing us in 
 Latin, — of a Latin carte des vins ! Think of a 
 postilion bearing a patent of nobility in his 
 boot ; — of the delicious privilege of putting an 
 Austrian uniform on your valet's back, and giving 
 him over to the rattan and the gauntlet if he 
 should fail to polish your own !" 
 
 " Think of me, Sigmond," whispered Sidonia, 
 " when you embrace your child, or when you 
 receive lolina's forgiveness." 
 
 '^ I trust," answered Lingotski with a look of 
 alarm, ^' you have no cause for anticipating such 
 a scene ? Courvai would be a bad spectator for 
 a comcdie larmoyante ; but he will save us from 
 the restraint of a tete a tete, and the Countess 
 must learn from my example to shun retrospec- 
 tion. Yourself Sidonia, with your son, and I 
 hope with your husband, will join us when the 
 return of spring shall re-open the roads; — by 
 that time all will be forgotten. Au revair." 
 
CASSIAN. 293 
 
 " Farewell Lingotski !" said Howard, pressing 
 his hand with a brother's warmth ; " trifle no 
 longer with your own happiness, nor neglect that 
 of others which is equally in your keeping. It is 
 a charge for which you are heavily accountable." 
 
 '^I would you had accompanied them," observed 
 Princess Betthyani, thoughtfully, as they stood 
 watching the white sails set, and the little vessel 
 stand from the shore. *^ I would I had urged 
 your departure ; — for if I mistake not, Courval's 
 presence will ill advantage poor Ina's cause. I 
 could half regret that I had persuaded my brother 
 to visit Szent Miklos." And this feeling, and 
 the fears entertained by Sidonia were painfully 
 aggravated by receiving, some days after the 
 departure of her brother, the following letter from 
 the Countess Lingotski. 
 
 ** You ask my forgiveness, dearest Sidonia, for 
 the part you have taken in weaving the dark 
 tissue of my destinies ; — I had been better pleased 
 had you sought my pardon for the facility with 
 which you lent your ear to the tale of my imagi- 
 nary guilt. I had trusted that your friendship 
 
294 CASSIAN. 
 
 would judge me less harshly, and therefore little 
 imagined that your credulity had withheld from 
 Count Lingotski's knowledge my only means of 
 justification, — those means which my unwilling- 
 ness to expose you to his displeasure had rendered 
 unavailing to myself. Receive, however, dear 
 sister, my thanks for even this tardy expression 
 of your sympathy and compassion. 
 
 " At the period of Lingotski's cruel desertion, 
 I did not think I could live to acknowledge a 
 sorrow unconnected with his estrangement. It 
 were fruitless now to say how truly I loved 
 him,— for those feelings exist no longer ; yet my 
 wasted youth, — my broken health, — my cheerful 
 submission to his will attest the strength of my 
 past attachment. An intensity of wife-like devo- 
 tion rendered me patient under his cruelty, — but 
 it could not blind me to the heartlessness of his 
 coldness towards his innocent child ; and it was 
 in gazing upon my poor little abandoned Emerich 
 that I learned to steel my bosom against his 
 father. In the solitude of my desolate existence, 
 I have taught myself to derive pleasure, if not 
 
CASSIAN. 295 
 
 happiness, from a thousand objects wholly inde- 
 pendent of his will ; — not such indeed as Sidonia 
 was fated to enjoy under the happy shelter of an 
 admiring husband's esteem, — not such as I trust 
 she will long live to share with the affection of the 
 beloved object of her maturer choice; — but such 
 as a heart so early blighted as my own, might 
 cherish with humble gratitude. My life at Szent 
 Miklos has been one of calm, silent, every-day 
 enjoyment, — derived from lowly but unfailing 
 sources, — and sanctioned by the mercy of that 
 high Heaven which its blameless tenour tended to 
 propitiate. One sorrow, — one single affliction, — 
 embittered its course, — of that hereafter. 
 
 " By what I have said, Sidonia, you may learn 
 that my heart has long thrown off the cares and 
 hopes and expectations of the ardent affection 
 which was its former boast, — that its pulses have 
 long been chilled into the calmness of indifference. 
 I feel that it is no longer in my power to love 
 Lingotski; he can neither justify his selfish 
 violence in my sight, nor resume his mastery 
 over my feelings. I pardon him, — but no sense 
 
296 CASSIAN. 
 
 of duty commands me to grant him a renewed 
 attachment. Judge therefore whether you do 
 wisely in persuading him, as you say you have 
 done, — to visit Szent Miklos. Were my inch- 
 nations consulted, or my opinions respecting our 
 prospects of happiness regarded, I should pray, 
 for both our sakes, that we might never meet 
 again; — my strongest motive for this desire re- 
 mains to be told. You, whose letter expresses 
 so forcibly the exulting pride of a mother's heart, 
 — you who picture so fondly the personal endow- 
 ments of your son, and boast so warmly his 
 resemblance to Lingotski, will imagine the bitter- 
 ness of heart with which I confess that my poor 
 deserted boy, — my fondly-loved Emerich, — is — 
 a cripple ! 
 
 " The grievous circumstances of his birth be- 
 reft him, through some fatal injury, of his fair 
 proportions ; and the deformity although slight, 
 is pronounced to be irremediable. All that Hun- 
 garian art could suggest has been vainly tried ; 
 and when I look upon his sweet expressive face, 
 and listen to his gentle words of intelligent 
 
CASSIAN. 297 
 
 tenderness, I am rather inclined to bless the 
 mercy which has rendered his misfortune so little 
 painful to himself, so little revolting to others, 
 than to envy the mothers of unblemished chil- 
 dren. But although I feel to love him a thou- 
 sand fold the better for his infirmity, I know that 
 Lingotski's vain and unforgiving eye will rest in 
 coldness upon my son, — and that trial, that bitter 
 trial I would willingly shun. Keep him from us, 
 dear Sidonia, — save us from sorrow and humili- 
 ation. We live happy in the obscurity of our 
 lonely destiny'; do not let him mar our peaceful 
 retirement with the clamours of his pride. Fare- 
 wel sweet friend of my early choice ; my love and 
 prayers attend you." 
 
 "Alas!" exclaimed Sidonia, as Howard re- 
 turned the letter to her hands, " does it not 
 appear that I am a destined enemy to my poor 
 Ina? — She is right, — it had been better that my 
 brother should never revisit Szent Miklos !" 
 
 o2 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 * Out, hunchback!' 
 * I was born so, father !' 
 
 Byron. 
 
 Count Lingotski was ill prepared for the emo- 
 tions by which his mind was overcome on his 
 re-entrance into Hungary. Experience had not 
 forewarned him of the effect produced upon the 
 sensitive ear, after long absence, by the sounds 
 of our native tongue,^ — on the eye, by the aspect 
 of familiar sights and faces,- — on the heart, by 
 the consciousness that the earth we tread is that 
 of our fatherland ! — and overwhelmed by feelings 
 which he vainly strove to disguise, he gave him- 
 self up to their sweet illusion. Every object by 
 which he was surrounded, seemed through the 
 invisible chain of association to appertain unto 
 
CASSIAN. 299 
 
 himself. The very sky, — the air, — appeared of 
 right his own ; and when, at the mere announce- 
 ment of a Lingotski, — a name time-honoured in 
 Hungary, — crowds thronged to look upon his 
 face, and kiss his extended hand, his pride and 
 presumption, the ruling foibles of his mind, 
 prompted his wonder at the blindness and way- 
 ward self-denial which had so long detained him 
 from his native country, and withdrawn him from 
 the deference he knew so well to prize. 
 
 But to what a height of wild enthusiasm were 
 the demonstrations of the populace excited, as he 
 entered upon a district forming part of his here- 
 ditary domain ! — where he was welcomed as 
 proudly as a triumphant conqueror, — and where 
 every village, — every church, — every coppice, — 
 bore its own peculiar interest and interpretation 
 unto his heart ! In vain did Courval, — to whose 
 foreign eye the singular aspect and unfamiliar 
 character of the Miliiarische Granzeii, or military 
 frontier wore an unintelligible seeming, — implore 
 an explanation of its ordinances, public and 
 domestic. He was left to see, hear, or imagine, 
 
300 CASSIAN. 
 
 as his solitary judgment might suggest; for the 
 mind of Lingotski was wholly engrossed by its 
 own excitements, and his attention claimed by the 
 importunate vassalry which surrounded his car- 
 riage. '' My dear Count/' exclaimed the Cheva- 
 lier, in the desperation of his curiosity, ^'my 
 gracious Lord and Magnat ! — these boy and 
 woman soldiers, tell me for the love of Mars, — 
 are they enlisted by birthright in the great regi- 
 ment of the nation? — are they destined for 
 battle-field as well as for parade, — and do they 
 betake themselves to their distaffs in the intervals 
 of guarding their debateable land against the 
 turbaned infidel?" 
 
 Lingotski replied only by a look of vague 
 abstraction. His heart was far away, — his mind 
 had wandered to Szent Mikl6s ; and if at that 
 moment of softened feeling, lolina had appeared 
 before his eyes, in the bright maturity of that 
 matron beauty and the gentle charm of that 
 endearing humility which he had forced himself 
 to abandon, — the uncontrollable tumult of his 
 bosom would have prompted him to rush to her 
 
CASSIAN. 301 
 
 feet, — confess his errors, — and endow her anew 
 with the lavish gift of his whole affection. But 
 the warmth of his yielding heart was destined to 
 be chilled by an unexpected check, ere he ap- 
 proached the castle. The vassals of the Szent 
 Miklos domain had lived too long and too hap- 
 pily under the gentle governance of Countess 
 Lingotski, to be insensible to her wrongs, or to 
 the humiliating negligence testified towards her- 
 self and them, by the prolonged absence of their 
 lord. His early career of daring independence 
 had tempted them to regard his character with 
 expectations of service and redemption from 
 national wrong, which his after-life had left 
 unfulfilled ; and the bright promise which his 
 intemperate boyhood had worn in their eyes, had 
 only subsided to give place to the mortifying 
 darkness of a more than common indifference 
 towards the interests of that native country, unto 
 which he had sworn an entire devotion. What- 
 ever humiliation or reserve might have attended 
 his defiance to her chartered rulers, — had he even 
 provoked the worst mischances of revolt, and 
 
302 CASS I AN. 
 
 drawn upon himself the fatal destinies of Ra- 
 gotski or Tekeli, he would have remained the 
 idol of their allegiance, the planet of their blind 
 worship ; but he had left them to their chains, — 
 had fled in disgust from their shores, — had 
 expended the revenues wrung from their toil, 
 upon foreign minions, — bequeathing their best 
 interests to the feeble hand of a woman and a 
 child ! 
 
 And that helpless woman, that deserted child 
 who had been born and nurtured amongst them, 
 became in the end dearer to their loyalty than the 
 remembrance of their absentee Herrschaft. lolina 
 had exhibited too active a sympathy in their 
 wants and afflictions to remain an object of anti- 
 pathy or indifference ; and even the infirmity of 
 the little Emerich had found favour in their sight. 
 '^ His father," said they, ^' boasted the lofty 
 presence of the Lingotskische blood, — his father 
 was bold of limb, and expert of hand. But what 
 hath his agility availed us? — what his high 
 courage, — his well-knit strength? Hungaria hath 
 no longer a battle plain on which such energies 
 
CAS SI AN. 303 
 
 might advantage her feebleness; — and Count 
 Emerich will unite the wisdom of the serpent 
 with the gentleness of the dove, and will serve us 
 in the councils of our enemies, wherein alone our 
 struggles may win redress." In this persuasion 
 they had transferred their hopes to the young 
 heir of Lingotski ; and as they were aware, 
 vaguely indeed, but satisfactorily to their appre- 
 hensions, that he had been deserted and stig- 
 matized by the Count their reigning lord, they 
 listened to the announcement of his return to 
 Szent Miklos with distrust and regret. In vain 
 did the Hofrichter attempt to animate their feel- 
 ings into a better train ; they turned sullenly to 
 their accustomed occupations, and marked no 
 interest in the coming change. 
 
 Meanwhile Sigmond, who had foreseen some 
 wondrous exhibition of loyal attachment on en- 
 tering the district of Szent Miklos, who had 
 even surmised, — deceived by the remembrance of 
 Iblina's devoted tenderness, — that his wife and 
 child would probably anticipate his arrival — and 
 meet him by the way, was successively amazed, 
 
304 CASSIAN. 
 
 mortified, and enraged by the silence and soli- 
 tude which attended his advance. So firm had 
 been his reliance upon his own importance, that 
 he had even hazarded the expression of his 
 expectations to Courval ; who, secretly delighted 
 to mark the repression of the lofty Magyar's 
 presumptuous arrogance, affected to soothe his 
 chafed spirit by predicting a concentration of the 
 ardent loyalty of the vassalry, in some mighty 
 display at the very gates of the castle. At 
 length they entered the glorious avenue of Szent 
 Mikl6s; — all was still tranquil, — still lonely. 
 But Lingotski had no longer leisure to note this 
 perplexing neglect;— he had caught sight of the 
 home of his infancy, and was speechless from 
 agitation. The drawbridge was lowered on the 
 approach of the train of equipages, — and at the 
 foot of the great stair, the travellers descended 
 from their carriage. 
 
 It is a trying thing,— a bitterly trying thing, — 
 to receive in our father's hall the welcome of a 
 stranger. The want of cordiality and the seem- 
 ing remissness which, in the present instance, 
 
CASSIAN. 305 
 
 asfg-ravated the humiliation of Count Linootski, 
 arose in part from the restless impatience which 
 had caused him to anticipate the hour announced 
 by his heiduck for his return, — and partly from 
 the natural changes inevitably consequent upon 
 the lapse of five long years of human life. Many 
 of his grey-headed servitors were gone to their 
 graves ; — many were removed to other settle- 
 ments upon the estate ;— and of those who re- 
 placed them, and who now hastened to offer him 
 their homage, the greater part were grieved and 
 thwarted by their Lord's return. *' The Coun- 
 tess?" demanded Lingotski with tremulous lips, 
 in reply to their gratulations ; — yet scarcely daring 
 to listen to their information. 
 
 The folding doors of the saloon were thrown 
 open at his inquiry; and as the travellers entered, 
 lolina in the graceful dignity of womanly love- 
 liness advanced towards them. She was deadly 
 pale, but apparently self-possessed, for not a 
 shadow of perturbation was visible on her sweet 
 countenance, or in the measured music of her 
 gentle voice ; and as the arrival of the chief 
 
306 CASSIAN. 
 
 officers resident on the estate, who now respect- 
 fully approached to tender their allegiance to the 
 Count; soon filled the apartment with crowded 
 confusion, she was the better enabled to main- 
 tain her shew of calmness, and to receive her 
 husband and his friend with a cordial and unem- 
 barrassed welcome. She inquired with an air of 
 interest into the particulars of their recent jour- 
 ney, and found courage to reply to the hurried 
 questions of the agitated Sigmond, with the 
 cheerful ease of — perfect indifference ! 
 
 This was an offence of which the expectation 
 had never glanced across the mind of the Count. 
 Although he had so warmly protested to Courval 
 against '* les scenes de famille/^ and had schooled 
 himself to believe that time and extended obser- 
 vation of the world had effaced every vestige of 
 his early tenderness for Iblina, he had still trusted 
 to the existence of that fond devotion on her part, 
 which was to overcome all sense of injury; and 
 of that' patient duty which was to enable her to 
 receive unmurmuringly the bitter trials and the 
 cruel abandonment with which it had been his 
 
CASSIAff. 307 
 
 pleasure to reward them. That she could forget 
 him, he had naturally deemed impossible; — that 
 she could look upon his tardy return as aught but 
 an act of grace and generosity had never occurred 
 to the limited views of his egotism ; and when he 
 gazed upon that unimpassioned and noble brow 
 whose calmness seemed to place him in the 
 wrong, and to render that very wrong insignifi- 
 cant, — his indignation equalled his astonishment; 
 and he secretly resolved to effect a rapid change 
 in the feelings of the Countess. He hesitated 
 indeed whether to win back her estranged affec- 
 tions by gentleness and love, or whether to crush 
 the offender into submission by the loftiness of 
 his supremacy; — but for the latter method he 
 felt too much a stranger in that home wherein 
 habitual rule had given her the ease of supe- 
 riority. He could not even gather courage, — 
 while the Countess with graceful courtesy was 
 occupied in marking out to his guest the points 
 of view visible from the oriel, — to ask for his son ; 
 and it was not till he retired to refresh himself 
 from the fatigues of his journey, and was ushered 
 
308 CASSIAN. 
 
 by the hofhausmeister into a chamber where his 
 page and other attendants were busily arranging 
 his baggage, that he despatched him to bring 
 the boy to his presence. 
 
 The maitre d' hotel immediately returned, fol- 
 lowed by the Countess herself, leading the little 
 Emerich in her hand. On entering the room she 
 graciously motioned to the attendants to continue 
 their task, and advancing close unto her husband, 
 *' Count Lingotski," said she, with lips as cold 
 and pale as marble, '^ I was unwilling that you 
 should receive your child from any hand but 
 mine. He is little gifted, alas ! to gratify your 
 pride ; yet let me trust, let me implore,'* she 
 continued, joining her hands, " that his guiltless 
 misfortunes may not wholly estrange him from 
 his father's love." 
 
 Count Lingotski, startled and deeply affected, 
 bent upon the boy a gaze of stern but anxious 
 inquiry. He saw a noble countenance, — an open 
 brow, to which his own dark eyes imparted a 
 premature and melancholy intelligence ; —but the 
 distorted figure and feeble gesture of the child, as 
 
CASSIAX. 309 
 
 he knelt low at his father's feet, — thrilled him 
 with horror and mortification. 
 
 " lohna!" he exclaimed — 
 
 '' Exists no longer !" answered the Countess 
 with gentle firmness. *' But we are friendsy I 
 trust," said she, offering her hand with sweet 
 persuasiveness to Lingotski ; — friends who will 
 pass henceforward through their uneventful lives 
 with calm and mutual regard. Retrospection 
 could not but embitter a nearer and dearer 
 hope, — for a blighted tree may not revive." 
 
 *^ This is no time," said the embarrassed Sig- 
 mond, looking round upon his train. 
 
 '^ Pardon me," observed the Countess, 'Mt is 
 the time, — and I trust the last, — on which our 
 intercourse may be disturbed by unavailing re- 
 miniscences. Let our existence, — our friendship 
 date from this hour; — and stand upon too sure a 
 footing of mutual confidence to admit of one 
 word of discord or misapprehension." 
 
 She withdrew as she spoke ; and Lingotski 
 gazed upon the closing door as one awakened 
 from a trance ; — but of many conflicting feelings, 
 
310 CASSIAN. 
 
 fury; — the rage excited by humiliated pride, rose 
 uppermost to his lips. '^ Go ! shapeless imp !" 
 said he to the trembling child, who hastened to 
 obey the first harsh word of authority that had 
 grated on his trembling ear, — '* go ! shapeless 
 urchin! follow thy cold-hearted mother! and 
 Lingotski's curse rest upon ye both !" 
 
 " Shame on thee ! shame on thy unmanly 
 soul !" exclaimed the dauntless Harak, who had 
 alone presumed to linger in audience of the scene. 
 '^ Thy Countess is a noble creature. Lord of 
 Lingotski, and I reverence the contempt she 
 hath cast down upon thee." 
 
 Before the parties met again, Sigmond, who 
 dreaded lest the Chevalier de Courval should dis- 
 cover the disappointment of his insolent expec- 
 tations, had banished every trace of anger from 
 his brow. He affected the cheerful easy tone of 
 perfect contentment ; and even attempted to ad- 
 dress the Countess with the unmeaning gallantry 
 of a man of the world ; and though he secretly 
 ground his teeth with rage as he gazed upon the 
 serene loveliness of her intelligent face, he com- 
 
CASSIAN. 311 
 
 mauded himself sufficiently to second Courval's 
 animated details respecting the various countries 
 they had traversed, and the adventures they had 
 encountered ; and lolina by her inquiries respect- 
 ing Sidonia, Howard, and the young Prince, the 
 representative of the Betthyanis, found a ready 
 resource against the painful embarrassment of 
 her position. One reply of Lingotski's, — she could 
 not believe it an inadvertent one, — cut her to 
 the heart. ^^ Sidonia's son, ask you? — Sigmond 
 Betthyani is a glorious creature ; — the stamp of 
 true nobility is upon him, and the trace of his 
 hiofh lineao;e animates his whole being^." lolina 
 heard the taunt, thought of her boy, and shud- 
 dered ! 
 
 On the morrow however, the various occupa-* 
 tions and diversions which engrossed the travel- 
 lers, relieved her altogether from their presence ; 
 — where there are w^oods and waters to yield up 
 their prey, a lady's bower is secured from the 
 haunting of masculine intrusion. She saw the 
 trusty pair, attended by a countless troop of 
 jdgers and forstmeisters, gallop off to the forest ; 
 
312 CASSTAN. 
 
 and she turned to her neglected boy to weep, and 
 to meet with consolation. 
 
 Emerich, like many, or most of his fellow-suf- 
 ferers in physical misfortune, had been counter- 
 gifted by the mercy of Heaven with an excess of 
 intellectual endowment ; and his gentle disposition 
 and lively mind had imparted to his countenance 
 that earnest and premature expression, which so 
 generally characterizes bodily infirmity in chil- 
 dren. He had lived from his birth's first 
 melancholy hour, in the bosom of the fondest of 
 mothers. His claims upon her care had been 
 undiverted by those of any other domestic tie ; — 
 unshared by the influence of any other affection ; 
 — her whole thoughts had been his, — her whole 
 time y — and his little feeble life had been fostered 
 by her ceaseless attendance, and his little gra- 
 cious spirit formed and tempered by her gentle 
 schooling. Young as he was, he had been taught 
 to understand the whole extent of his misfortune ; 
 — that he had been marked, on the threshold of 
 existence, by the chastening hand of Heaven, — 
 that he had been thrown off and forsaken by 
 
CASSIAN, 313 
 
 his own father ! But he also knew himself to 
 be wholly beloved by a consoling mother, and he 
 resolved to entitle himself to her involuntary ten- 
 derness ; — fortunately, his humility of mind had 
 not enfeebled the character which it rendered 
 so lovely. The Countess had conscientiously 
 laboured to extend his filial devotion to his 
 absent parent ; and seconded by nature's unfail- 
 ing instincts, she had succeeded in fixing the 
 warm hopes and interest of her little Emerich 
 upon Lingotski's return. " Every child in 
 the hamlet has a father but me," he would 
 say. " You tell me, mother, mine is far away ; 
 teach me to win him home again, dear mother, 
 that I may look upon his face and seek his 
 blessing." 
 
 And now that absent father had returned 
 indeed, — and Emerich had looked with rapture 
 
 upon his face, and had been driven with 
 
 curses from his presence ! — But the knowledge of 
 that horrible denunciation still withered silently in 
 his little heart ; — his high courage, and his value 
 for his mother's peace of mind, had induced him 
 
 p 
 
314 CASSIAN. 
 
 to subdue his sorrow in secresy. " My father," 
 he had observed to the Countess, and it was his 
 only explanation, " will scarcely disturb the 
 peaceful seclusion of our life, dearest mother. 
 He will not, I am persuaded, again summon me 
 to his presence." 
 
 " Shame be with him then," said Katalin, 
 whose faithful love was now centred in her little 
 charge. 
 
 " No shame, good nurse," said the boy 
 cheerfully. '^ My years, — my weakness, ren- 
 der me fitter to live under my kind mother's 
 tending, than in my father's bolder presence. 
 Do not grieve, mother ; — let me dry these 
 vain, vain tears, — your boy is happy in your 
 love, and asks no other blessing, no other coun- 
 tenance." 
 
 But Iblina, although she turned at his sweet 
 bidding a smiling look upon her child, and 
 drove back the bitter tears into her heart, could 
 not fail to grieve with all the softness of a 
 woman's heart over the last fatal chano-e which 
 had befallen her destiny. Her power to insure 
 
CASSIAN. 315 
 
 the happiness of her vassals, — her power to 
 occupy her attention in the cares of her house- 
 hold, — her power to indulge in the self-commun- 
 ing of solitary study and reflection, were taken 
 from her, — and what had she in exchange? The 
 castle of Szent Miklos was filled, immediately on 
 the arrival of Lingotski, with crowds of noble 
 visitants who, during his absence, had marked 
 their scorn of herself by contemptuous avoid- 
 ance. Instead of seeking that dignified seclu- 
 sion which had betrayed his devotion to her 
 society, in their earlier and happier days of union, 
 he now seemed to place his happiness on the 
 daily assemblage of troops of friends, and of 
 friends' friends, — however incongruous to his 
 own feelings and pursuits. Courval indeed 
 v»'as the ostensible object of all this waste of 
 hospitality; but Lingotski sought in truth only 
 to place the security of a crowd between lolina 
 and himself; and to drown in the tumults of 
 fe.stivity those feelings of remorse, and that con- 
 sciousness of indignity which were rankling in 
 his heart. Meanwhile Emerich's prediction was 
 
316 CASSIAN, 
 
 fulfilled,-— he never again sought to look upon 
 his son. 
 
 Could lolina have imagined that the feelings 
 which spread a still increasing gloom over the 
 brow of her husband were chiefly caused by her 
 estrangement, — could she have believed that her 
 improved beauty and bewitching charms of 
 manner and address had more than renewed her 
 first attractions to his eyes, — could she, above 
 all, have conjectured that his bosom was dis- 
 turbed by the bitterest compunction and regret, 
 it is possible that she might have softened from 
 her mood of cold reserve; for what woman is 
 proof against the lingering tenderness of a heart 
 which has once been all her own ? — or what 
 woman can wholly throw off her allegiance to the 
 husband of her youth, — to the father of her 
 child ? — But, stimulated by Courval's wilful 
 misrepresentations, she attributed to feelings of 
 hatred, hatred against herself and her helpless 
 son, every dark cloud that passed over his coun- 
 tenance, every stern comment that fell from his 
 lips. Sometimes he withdrew on pretext of 
 
CASSIAN. 317 
 
 indisposition from her presence ; and so satisfied 
 was she of the sincerity of his assumed aversion, 
 that on such occasions, she forbore, for pride's 
 sake, for the sake of modest self-respect, to 
 extend towards him any of those conciliatory 
 attentions which she would not have hesitated 
 to offer to any one of her guests. Yet had she 
 known with what starts of passion he secretly 
 gazed upon her fair face, and how fondly he was 
 inclined to fold her to his bosom, her very anxiety 
 to win his forbearance and endearments towards 
 her neglected child would have prompted her to 
 attempt the difficult task of forgiveness, forget- 
 fulness, and renewed affection. 
 
 The Chevalier de Courval had indeed his own 
 views in the confirmation of her error. From 
 the first moment he had cast his eyes upon the 
 beauty, the singular and powerful beauty of Lin- 
 gotski's wife, his amazement at the chimeras 
 which had bewildered his visionary brain and so 
 long detained him in exile, was unbounded. 
 That any man could forsake so sweet a creature, 
 or permit himself to mistrust her purity of heart 
 
318 CxiSSIAN. 
 
 appeared unaccountable, — even to a Frenchman ; 
 but he kept a careful watch over the expression 
 of his admiration and of his faith ; and ^' gave 
 no sign'' of the unprecedented emotions which 
 lolina's rare loveliness had wakened in his heart. 
 He it was, meanwhile, who urged the Count to 
 all his restless and unquiet movements ; he it was 
 who suggested his frequent excursions and ab- 
 sences from the castle ; who filled its halls with 
 tumultuous festivities and licentious rioting ; and 
 whose hypocritical condolences continually forced 
 upon his remembrance the misfortune of his heir, 
 and blinded the father's eyes to his many good 
 gifts, and redeeming qualities. 
 
 It- was the Chevalier de Courval too who, 
 ''close at the ear of Eve," delighted to record 
 the expressions of disgust which disappointment 
 and rejected affection sometimes forced from 
 Lingotski's lips, and to hint at the excesses which 
 had disgraced his life during his wandering years 
 of self-banishment ; and this was done under 
 such a mask of gentle sympathy and affected ex- 
 pectation of amendment, that it could not offend 
 
CASSIAN. 319 
 
 even the gentle and excellent lolina. It is true 
 the language of the world had been long unfami- 
 liar to her ears ; and the polished deference 
 marked towards her by Courval, lent an addi- 
 tional charm to his animated description of foreign 
 countries, — to his tidings of the cherished home 
 of her youth, — and to his piquant anecdotes of 
 Sidonia and of her affianced lover ; and such dis- 
 course frequently induced her to shun the rude 
 untutored Hungarian guests of the castle, in order 
 to give her whole attention to her husband's 
 chosen friend. He was ever at hand to listen to 
 her music, direct her pencil, and improve her 
 knowledge of languages which had been for- 
 merly familiar to her as her own. His low fanit 
 praises, his undivided devotion, had a charm in 
 her estimation which his patient and solicitous 
 attentions to her little Emerich, heightened into 
 the friendliness of sincere regard. The boy too, 
 loved Courval, who was of a race and character 
 equally unfamiliar and attractive to his childish 
 fancy ; and who by his skill and vivacity had so 
 won upon his affections, that he would follow the 
 
320 CASSIA!^. 
 
 footsteps of the Chevalier with a wearyless assi- 
 duity that on one occasion even betrayed him 
 into the presence of his father. 
 
 It chanced one morning that the orangerie was 
 filled with the noble visitants of Szent Miklos, — 
 the Governor of Herrmannstadt and his etat 
 major among the rest, — when the little fellow in 
 the heat of a chase after the retreating Courval, 
 who had enticed him from his remote terrace, — 
 suddenly found himself in the midst of the group. 
 Lingotski, who had been that morning more than 
 commonly irritated by the Chevalier's jests upon 
 his ^* passion malheureuse pour sa propre Jemme," 
 and by his repetition of some comments which 
 he asserted to have been made by the company 
 upon the frightful distortion of '^ the elfin heir," 
 was infuriated by this untimely intrusion ; and 
 seizing the hapless boy by the arm, he bade him 
 begone from his presence, in a tone of loathing 
 and contempt. '' Go I changeling!" said he, 
 ''go, herd with the slaves of the household, — less 
 degraded, less miserable than thyself. Go ! out- 
 cast of nature ! thou beseemest not this presence." 
 
CAS STAN. 321 
 
 " And what dost thou beseem, oh ! heartless 
 man/' exclaimed the undaunted child, — his little 
 spirit rising under the insulting scoffs of his 
 father. " What presence dost thou beseem, who 
 art the cause of all my sweet mother's tears, — 
 the cause, if Katalin says true, — of my affliction, 
 and those oTievous defeatures which now move 
 thy scorn !" 
 
 Lingotski, enraged beyond patience, rushed for- 
 ward to spurn the bold offender with his foot ; 
 but the young Armenian, whose constant atten- 
 dance upon the Count insured his observation of 
 the whole affair, interposed without hesitation 
 between them. He seized the child, and clasping 
 it closely within his arms, exclaimed, " touch 
 him, unmanly savage, at thy peril !" Then sud- 
 denly disappearing from the orangerie, he paused 
 not till he had laid the still trembling Emerich 
 safe at his mother's feet. 
 
 The boy anxiously attributed his safety to the 
 
 intrepid protection of young Harak ; who was 
 
 retirins: from the chamber, when lolina in the 
 
 warmth of her gratitude followed him with eager 
 
 p 2 
 
322 CASSIAN. 
 
 haste, and would have pressed to her heart 
 the menial hand which had been uplifted to 
 rescue her boy from the wicked violence of his 
 father. 
 
 It was upon this last hint that Courval spake 
 his final insinuation, and displayed his master- 
 piece of art; and by betraying to the afflicted 
 Countess the real sex and condition of the being 
 whom she had thus honoured with her gratitude, 
 he trusted not only to insure it to himself, but to 
 rouse all her feelings of womanly resentment 
 against that husband by whose disguised mistress 
 her dwelling was polluted. Deceived by the 
 involuntary start with which lolina marked her 
 perception of the insult, Courval proceeded to 
 hazard still stronger declarations ; but he had 
 already exhibited glimpses of his true character 
 from behind his specious mask of candour, and 
 the hour of danger was past for the injured wife. 
 
 '* How have I remained blind to this urgent 
 mischief!" she exclaimed; alluding, not as the 
 Chevalier persuaded himself, to the sex of the 
 pretended page, but to his own black projects. 
 
CASSIAN. 323 
 
 ^' How could I overlook the certainty that no man 
 breaks the confidence reposed in him, save for the 
 furtherance of views as worthless as himself? 
 Go ! Monsieur de Courval ; — for once your nets 
 have been spread in vain. Had you spared this 
 last toil, — this last fatal snare, — my dangerous 
 self-security might have confirmed my peril. Go 
 — sir ; — henceforth no confidence can be between 
 us.'^ 
 
 *^ Katalin," said the unhappy Countess Lin- 
 gotski, when she retired that night to her sleepless 
 pillow. " I am bent upon leaving the defilement 
 of these walls ; Szent Miklos is no longer an 
 abiding place for me or mine. My child is 
 exposed to the dishonour of vile blows ; — myself 
 to association v/ith the base and worthless. I do 
 not ask thee to follow my fallen fortune, my good 
 girl ; — to doubt thy will were to slander the blood 
 of Mariska which flows so warmly in thy heart. 
 Bat thou knowest the country, — the temper of 
 the vassals, — say ! what chance hath thy wretched 
 mistress of safe-conduct from the castle ?" 
 
 '' By boldly claiming her free right to go and 
 
324 CASSIAN. 
 
 come," said the high-minded Katalin, falling on 
 her knee, and kissing the hand of lolina in 
 renewal of her faithful adherence. " Shall the 
 gracious Countess of Lingotski depart in the 
 watches of the night, under cover of the dark- 
 ness, like an evil-doer and a cast-away ? Away 
 with the thought ! Throw back in his teeth the 
 misguided ill usage of the lord of Szent Miklos, 
 and depart from his gates as beseemeth his law- 
 ful wife, and the innocent mother of his heir." 
 
 ^' Alas ! good girl," — replied lolina patiently, 
 ^' thy unbending counsels would undo me. My 
 right to come and go is indeed indisputable ; but 
 the right to convey from his father's dwelling the 
 child of my sorrow, resteth not in my feeble hand. 
 By stratagem, not force or outcry, must I achieve 
 my end ; and rescue my boy from evils I dare not 
 myself encounter. But say he were once removed 
 beyond the bounds of the domain, say that our 
 flight had even proved secure and secret, whither 
 should we direct our wanderings, — where shape 
 our desolate course ? I have no home, Katalin ; 
 no friend to shew pity to my babe and me." 
 
CASSIAN. 325 
 
 " Danger and sorrow, madam, lend grace to the 
 lowliest shelter. You have long known me the 
 affianced wife of Szava, the Count's Sclavonian 
 henchman, — you have long known Szava as a 
 good and trusty and devoted servant to your 
 house. He would peril much to serve you, 
 lady; — all to retain the gratitude of Katalin. 
 If you would indeed win by stealth and as in 
 shame from the castle, it is to him you must trust 
 for guidance ; and if you would seek the shelter 
 of a roof whose lowliness may be beneath sus- 
 picion, and where loyal hearts may compass you 
 around, and defend you in case of need, still none 
 better than Szava can serve your will. His 
 people dwell in the plains by Vanicza ; — they 
 are poor, but of gentle blood ; and have learned 
 to breathe your name with honour and grati- 
 tude." 
 
 " Alas ! alas !" said the Countess, *' were I 
 disposed to accept your offer, what danger may I 
 not bring upon the innocent household which 
 yields shelter to my fated head." 
 
 " Said I not that they were noble, madam ?" 
 
326 CASSIAN. 
 
 observed Katalin, '' and have therefore nought 
 to fear at the Lingotski's hands ? The earth they 
 dig, though arid, is their own ; the roof-tree 
 under which they house, is theirs by a right as 
 heritable as that which binds the castle of Szent 
 Miklos to its prouder lord. The law which 
 protects him, protects them also ; — their rights 
 are equal in the land." 
 
 " To-morrow," said the Countess, " there is a 
 chase, deep within the forest of Notrany. Lin- 
 gotski and his guests depart at noon on a three 
 day's absence j — he must not find me here on his 
 return, Katalin, nor the trace of our recent 
 footsteps on the path. Commune thou with 
 Szava ; — if his courage and devotion be equal to 
 thine own, let fleet horses and a fuhrwagen wait 
 beyond the bridge.; no man will seek Lingotski's 
 heir under its rude canvas shade ; and by mid- 
 night to-morrow we may be far on our way." 
 
 She placed a heavy purse in the hands of 
 Katalin as she spoke ; and dismissing her for the 
 night, — the last they were to spend in the gor- 
 geous halls of Szent Miklos, — the Countess threw 
 
CASSIAN. 327 
 
 herself beside the pillow of her boy, to find in 
 the helpless gentleness of his sleeping face, fresh 
 motives for her removal, — and in his open brow, 
 consolations for the past and hopes for her future 
 days. 
 
 ^' Thou wert born in affliction," she mur- 
 mured, " best blessing of my heart ! Thine 
 infant lip was fed with bitterness, and the moans 
 of my grieving became thy lullaby. But love 
 was with thee in every hour, in every trial ; and 
 disease and pain appeared forgotten in the sooth- 
 ing of a mother's tenderness. Thou hast never 
 known sorrow, Emerich ! Oh, no ! — despite thy 
 forsaken infancy — despite the wrong which nature 
 has wreaked on thy feeble frame, thou hast never 
 known sorrow, my gentle boy ! And now to see 
 thee smitten, — spurned, — reviled ! — thou, on 
 whose ear no sounds should fall, save words of 
 tenderness ; — thou on whose frail limbs none save 
 the hand of mercy should lay its touch, — thou, 
 ray Emerich, my own, — my only! — no ! patience 
 may not abide so dark, so deadly a perversion. 
 We will go hence, boy, — hence! the meanest 
 
328 CASSIAN. 
 
 shed upon the loneliest heath were a safer 
 abiding place for thee than the guarded towers 
 and splendid galleries of Szent Mikl6s. Sleep ! 
 my poor, dishonoured, injured child! thy head 
 shall be henceforth pillowed in a lowlier but a 
 happier home ! 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 Printed by S. Manning & Co., London House Yard.