As the whole merry company was approaching the end of the long avenue of Italian poplars, they perceived a solitary horseman trotting towards them from the opposite end of the avenue.
Even at a distance every one recognized him at once from his mode of riding, and like quick fire the rumour spread amongst the company; ah, at last he has arrived!
Who was it, then, who had arrived at last? Why, who else but the most gallant of cavaliers, the most daring of courtiers, who had only to come, see, and conquer--Mike Kis, the Whitsun King!
In a moment he had reached the cavalcade, and was apologizing to the ladies for having remained away so long, conveying the impression, from slight allusions he let drop, that some serious business, a duel perhaps, had detained him; then he proceeded to make his excuses to the gentlemen, allowing it to be supposed that some tender affair, a private a.s.signation for instance, was the cause of his delay. Then, shaking hands right and left, and even finding time to throw a word or two to each of the foxhounds by name, he politely begged those who thronged him to make way, as he wished to pay his respects immediately to Madame Karpathy, whom, without the slightest embarra.s.sment, he began to call a G.o.ddess, an angel on horseback, and other pretty names.
Unfortunately f.a.n.n.y misunderstood him, and, regarding everything he said as so many capital jokes, rewarded them with far more laughter than their merits deserved.
"Squire John, Squire John!" cried Dame Marion, in a shrill, pointed sort of tone, to Karpathy, who was trotting beside her carriage, "if I were you I would not have a bosom friend who has the reputation of being irresistible."
"I am not jealous, your ladyship; that is the one little wheel which is wanting in my mechanism. I suppose it was left out of me when I was made--ha, ha, ha!"
"Then, if I were you, I would not come to a fox-hunt, lest my dogs should regard me as an Actaeon."
"To give your ladyship cause to conduct yourself towards me like Diana, eh?"
Dame Marion pouted, and turned her head aside; the man was such a blockhead that he absolutely could not understand any attempt to aggravate him.
And now the company trotted merrily on again.
The course had been chosen outside a village, and in front of it a pleasure-house had been erected. Here the prizes were to be distributed.
Here those of the gentlemen and ladies who were not on horseback alighted, and ascended to a terrace, in shape like a lofty tower, which rose from the midst of the pleasure-house, and from whence the whole plain was visible. Only here and there was a dot of forest to be seen; everywhere else stretched a waste expanse covered with broom, coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, and sedges,--a true realm of foxes. Thus from the tower of the pleasure-house the best possible view of the whole compet.i.tion was obtainable, and there were field-gla.s.ses provided for those who wanted them.
A whole army of foxhounds had followed the hunters. It was a fine sight to see how, at a single familiar whistle, the various packs of hounds were separated from each other; how the dogs crowded round their respective masters, for the favourites were now let down from the carts and the rest were unleashed; and how, barking and yelping, they leaped in the air, to reach and lick their masters" uplifted hands.
It is curious how human pa.s.sions prove contagious to the very beasts.
Squire John selected from among the rest two pure snow-white hounds, and, whistling to them between his two fingers, led them to his wife.
"They are the finest and the boldest foxhounds in the whole pack."
"I know them: one is Cziczke, and the other Rajko."
The two dogs, hearing their names mentioned, joyously leaped and bounded in their efforts to lick their mistress"s hand as she sat on horseback.
It was very pleasant to Squire John to find that his wife knew his dogs by name, he was equally pleased to see that the dogs knew their mistress--ah! every one did her homage, both man and beast.
"But where, then, is Matyi?" inquired f.a.n.n.y, looking about her.
"I am taking him with me."
"What, sir, are you going to take part in the race? Pray do not!"
"Why not? Don"t you think me a good enough horseman?"
"I readily believe that you are; but pray, for my sake, do not proceed to prove it!"
"For your sake I will immediately dismount."
Flora whispered to Count Gregory, who was riding by her side, "I should like to know how many of the husbands present would give up hunting for the sake of their wives?"
And, indeed, Squire John"s affection must have been something altogether out of the way to make him renounce his favourite pastime in the joyful antic.i.p.ation of which he had been living for months beforehand, simply to please his wife. f.a.n.n.y, deeply touched, held out her hands towards him.
"You are not angry with me, I hope," said she; "but I feel so frightened on your account."
John Karpathy pressed the extended hand to his lips, and, holding it in his palm some little time, asked--
"And ought _I_ not to be afraid on your account also?"
f.a.n.n.y involuntarily glanced at her friend, as if to ask whether she also ought not to remain here.
Karpathy guessed the meaning of the look.
"No, no; I don"t want you to remain here. Go and enjoy yourself! But take care of yourself. And you young fellows there, watch over my wife as if she were the light of your eyes."
"Oh, we"ll look after her!" replied Mike Kis, twirling his moustache.
"And _I_, also, will look after her," cried Lady Szentirmay, with a strong emphasis on the word _I_; for she had observed that Karpathy"s good-natured appeal had somewhat confused his wife.
And now the horns began to sound and the whips to crack, and both dogs and horses grew unruly and impatient. The company divided into three parts, forming a centre and rings like an army, and advanced into the bushy plain, sending the dogs on in front. The ladies waved their handkerchiefs, the gentlemen their caps, to the friends they had left behind on the tower who responded in like manner, whereupon the galloping groups scattered in every direction, disappearing here and there among the thick brushwood. Only the heads of most of the riders were now visible above the bushes, but the fluttering veils of the two ladies could be plainly seen by every one, and every eye was fixed upon them with delight. And now they came to a ditch. Lady Szentirmay boldly raced towards it, and was over it in a trice; a moment later, Madame Karpathy also leaped the ditch, her slender figure swayed and danced during the leap; after her plunged her escort, Count Gregory, the Whitsun King, and some other hors.e.m.e.n. The people on the balcony applauded.
Only Karpathy felt uneasy, and did not know where to bestow himself. He descended among the grooms, and finding old Paul there, said to him, anxiously--
"I can"t help feeling anxious lest some accident should happen to my wife. Isn"t that horse rather shy?"
"The steadiest goer in the world; but perhaps you would like me to go after her?"
"Well, I should. You have just hit it. Mount my horse. Take care they do not go astray near the swamp; call their attention to the fact that they might easily come to grief there."
Palko immediately mounted Squire John"s horse, and Karpathy returned to the balcony to see whether he would manage to overtake them.
The hunt sped onwards tempestuously. The hounds had now started a fox, but they were still a long way off, and the field was so scattered that the artful beast seemed likely to throw them off his track. He kept plunging into the bushes while his pursuers dashed past, and then, all of a sudden, darted off side-ways. But fruitless was all his craftiness; he only rushed into a fresh foe, and tried vainly to hide or double: there was no refuge to be found anywhere, and the quick cracking of whips on every side of him told him that a war of extirpation against his whole race was on foot, so he resolved on flight, and gained the very first hillock, where he stopped for a moment, looked round to see from what direction the enemy was coming, and then made for the reeds with all his might.
"Look! the fox, the fox!" cried his pursuers, when they perceived him on the hillock: the next moment he had disappeared from it.
But they had seen enough of him to perceive that he was a splendid beast. He was evidently an old stager, who would give the best dogs something to do.
After him!
Off galloped the whole party in the track of the hounds, the faces of the two ladies were aglow with the pa.s.sionate ardour of the chase, and at that instant there occurred to the mind of f.a.n.n.y her vision of long ago: what if he, her nameless ideal, were now galloping beside her on his swift-footed steed, and could see her impetuously heading the chase till she threw herself down before him, and died there, without anybody knowing why! But Flora thought: "Suppose Rudolf were now to come face to face with me, and see me"--and then she felt again how much she loved him.
And now the fox suddenly emerged again on the open. A newly mown field, of a thousand acres or so in extent, covered with rows of hayc.o.c.ks, lay right before the huntsmen; and here the really interesting part of the hunt began. The fox was a fine specimen, about as big as a young wolf, but much longer in the body, and carrying behind him a provokingly big brush. He trotted leisurely in front, not because he could not go quicker, but because he wanted to economize his strength, and all the time he kept dodging to and fro, backwards and forwards, in the endeavour to tire his enemies out, and ceaselessly threw glances behind him at his pursuers, out of half an eye, keeping about a hundred paces in front of them, and accelerating his pace whenever he perceived that the distance between him and them was diminishing.
And yet the very best hounds of Squire John"s--Cziczke, the two white ones, and Rajko, Matyi, big Ordas, Michael Kis"s Fecske, and Count Gregory"s Armida, to say nothing of the whole canine army behind them, were hard upon his traces.
The fox began to go slower and slower. He seemed to regret the brushwood from which he had leaped forth, and kept flying towards one hayc.o.c.k after another; as if he fancied he could find a shelter beside it, and then, snarling savagely, cantered on again. Even from afar he could be seen gnashing his teeth together when he looked back.