St. Peter's Umbrella Part 33

"It really does seem as though Divine Providence had something to do with it. The shaft of my carriage broke, or I should never have come near that precipice."

"If I live to be a hundred I shall never forget your kindness to me, and your name will always have a place in my prayers. But how thoughtless of me! I have not even asked you your name yet."

"Gyuri Wibra."

"The well-known lawyer of Besztercebanya? And so young! I am glad to make the acquaintance of such an honorable man, sir, who is beloved in the whole of Besztercebanya; but I should be much more pleased if a poor man now stood before me, to whom I could give a suitable reward. But how am I to prove my grat.i.tude to you? There is nothing I possess which you would accept."

A smile played around Gyuri's mouth.

"I am not so sure of that. You know we lawyers are very grasping."

"Is there really something, or are you joking?"

The lawyer did not answer immediately, but walked on a few steps toward an old wild pear-tree, which had been struck by lightning, and not far from which the carriage was standing.

"Well, yes," he answered then, slowly, almost in a trembling voice, "there is something I would gladly accept from you."

"And what is it?"

"It has just struck me that there is something in my carriage which you might give me."

"In your carriage?"

"Yes, something you do not know of yet, and which I should be very happy to possess."

The priest took him by the hand.

"Whatever it may be, it is yours!"

In another minute they had reached the pear-tree.

"There is my carriage."

The priest looked that way, and saw, first a red sunshade, then a black straw hat under it, with some white daisies in it, and beneath it a sweet, girlish face. It all seemed so familiar to him, the sunshade, the hat, and the face. He rubbed his eyes as though awaking from a dream, and then exclaimed, catching hold of the lawyer's arm:

"Why, that is my Veronica!"

The lawyer smiled quietly and bowed.

"That is," went on the priest in his kind, gentle voice, "for the future she is your Veronica, if you wish."

By this time Veronica had seen and recognized her brother, had jumped out of the carriage and run to meet him, calling out:

"Here we are, safe and sound. How anxious you must have been! And our carriage is broken to bits; and oh! if you had only seen the horses! All sorts of things have happened, and I have brought Madame Krisbay."

The priest embraced her, and was glad she seemed to know nothing of his accident. How sensible of Gyuri not to have mentioned it!

"Yes, yes, my darling, you shall tell me everything in order later on."

But Veronica wanted to tell everything at once, the carriage accident in Babaszek, the supper at Mravucsans' (oh, yes! she had nearly forgotten, Mr. Mravucsan had sent his kind regards), then to-day's journey, the loss of her earring and its recovery ...

The priest, who was slowly beginning to understand things, here broke in upon her recital.

"And did you give the finder of it a reward?"

She was silent at first at the unexpected question, then answered hurriedly:

"No, of course not, how can you think of such a thing? What was I to give? Besides, he would not accept anything."

"I am surprised at that, for he has since then applied to me for a reward."

"Impossible!" said Veronica, casting a side-glance at Gyuri. Strange doubts had arisen in her mind, and her heart began to beat.

"And what does he ask for?" she asked in a low voice.

"He wants a good deal. He asks for the earring he found, and with it its owner. And I have promised him both!"

Veronica bent her head; her face was suffused with burning blushes, her bosom heaved.

"Well? Do you give no answer? Did I do right to promise, Veronica?"

Gyuri took a step toward her, and said, in a low, pleading voice:

"Only one word, Miss Veronica!" then stood back under the shade of the pear-tree.

"Oh! I am so ashamed!" said Veronica trembling, and bursting into tears.

A breeze came up just then across the Brana, and shook the pear-tree, which shed its white petals, probably the last the old tree would bear, over Veronica's dress.

CHAPTER II.

THREE SPARKS.

Madame sits in the carriage, and can understand nothing of what is going on. The young lady entrusted to her charge springs out of the carriage, runs up to a strange man in a long black coat, throws her arms round his neck, and then they all begin to talk with excited gestures, standing under the pear-tree. Then her pupil comes back to the carriage, mild as a lamb, arm in arm with the young man who had found her earring yesterday. All of this is so unexpected, so surprising. And while they are mending the broken shaft and reharnessing the horses, the man in the black coat, who turns out to be the girl's brother, turns to her and whispers in her ear:

"Your pupil has just engaged herself!"

Good gracious! When and where? Why, now, under the tree! Ah, Madame Krisbay, you feel you ought to faint now, partly because you are a correct woman, and consequently horrified at the way the event has taken place, and partly because you have fallen among such strange people; but your bottle of Eau de Cologne is quite at the bottom of your travelling-bag, and so it will be better not to faint now. But it is very shocking all the same! For though a tree is suitable for flirting under, or for declarations of love, it is not the correct place to ask a parent or guardian for a girl's hand. The proper place for that (especially in novels) is a well-furnished drawing-room. If the girl is very shy she runs out of the room; if not very shy she falls on her knees and asks the blessing of her parents or guardian, as the case may be. But how is one to kneel under a tree? These were the thoughts that were troubling Madame Krisbay, not Veronica. She, on the contrary, was thinking that one fine day she would return to this spot with her sketch-book, and draw the old tree as a souvenir.

All this time the carriage was rolling along the dusty road. There was no room for the coachman, so he had to follow on foot, and Gyuri took the reins into his own hands, Veronica sitting on the box beside him. Oh dear! she thought, what would they think of her in the village as they drove through?

The road was better now, and they could drive faster, so Gyuri loosened the reins, and began to think over the events that had taken place. Was it a dream or not? No, it could not be, for there was Veronica sitting near to him, and behind him Father Janos was talking to Madame Krisbay in the language of the Gauls. No, it was simple truth, though it seemed stranger than fiction. Who would have believed yesterday that before the sun set twice he would find his inheritance, and a wife into the bargain? Twenty-four hours ago he had not known of the existence of Miss Veronica Belyi. Strange! And now he was trying to imagine what the world had been like without her. It seemed impossible that he had not felt the want of her yesterday. But the wheels were making such a noise, that he found it difficult to collect his thoughts. Wonders had happened. One legend, that of the umbrella, was done away with, but on its ruins another had built itself up. Heaven and earth had combined to help him to his inheritance. Heaven had sent a dream and earth a protector.

His heart swelled as he thought of it. Oh, if the girl next him only knew to what a rich man she had promised her hand!