Baroness Orczy

“ Like a furious bull Bideskúty faced his creditor.
“Man, do you dare to say ...”
“I only dare humbly,” interrupted András with absolute calm, “to try and see justice done, and to help your lordship in your great difficulty. I am neither noble, nor learned, my education is what a kind and clever priest has given me, in the intervals of cultivating the soil, and I am not clever enough to read in the minds of other men. Your lordship has told me one thing: Rosenstein tells a different tale ... unfortunately the Jew holds proofs of his assertion, and you have but your word.” ”

“ Bideskúty had watched anxiously for the peasant, through his window; and had given orders, that Kemény was to be brought to his room immediately, All the morning he had been unable to sit still, and Countess Irma had, in vain begged for an explanation of his moodiness. Bideskúty, with truly masculine exclusiveness, would not allow his wife or daughter, to participate in his troubles. The woman in Hungary, is seldom the friend of her lord; though he holds her in high esteem: high enough to share all joys and honours equally with him, but not high enough to allow her to join in his sorrows. ”

“ Speak! am I a beggar? ...”
“Not so fast, my lord,” said András; “first let me assure you that things are not desperate, that they depend on yourself, to be put entirely right. There is no cause for sorrow ... as yet”
“Rosenstein? ...”
“Unfortunately, my lord” said András with some nervousness, but trying to speak very kindly, “the Jew has a very different tale to tell, to the one your lordship has told me.” ”

“ I can accept money from no one ... you cannot think such a thing possible! ... What do you mean?” he repeated again.
“My lord,” said András at last, shaking off his nervousness, with a violent effort, and rising to his full height, so that he stood before Bideskúty, in all the inborn pride of a Hungarian lowland peasant, “in my garden, at Kisfalu, there is a beautiful rose-tree, which stands alone, in fragrant loveliness. My mother never planted anything close to it, for both she and I felt, that no other flower was worthy to bloom near that rose, so surpassingly beautiful is it. ”

“ In the midst of this hopeless ruin, you come to me, and offer not only to save me and mine, but by this same offer guarantee that my lands will, in spite of all, belong to my child, and ultimately to my grandchildren. What can I do? when a man has a knife at his throat, it is a small matter to ask him if he will part with his wealth. ”

“ If he caught some gipsy or herdsman telling him a lie, he found his riding-whip the most conclusive argument; but, what could he do, if the lord of Bideskút deviated from the paths of truth? or if the Jew had embroidered, if not actually invented the remarkable version of his transactions with the unfortunate nobleman? ”

“ Rosenstein declares, and, I am bound to admit that he has full proof of what he says, that after your lordship had concluded the loans with me, you borrowed at intervals another 950,000 florins from him, for the greater part of which he had no security, and therefore charged the usurious interest you know of.”
“I never had the money. I am ready to swear that, since my word is not good enough,” protested Bideskúty hopelessly, “the man is an outrageous liar!” ”