United States or Afghanistan ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Blanka was stricken speechless with horror, but Anna, who followed her, broke out in lamentations, until a strong hand was laid on her from behind and Aaron's voice was heard saying: "Don't cry, don't make a noise! If the people inside hear you, they'll come out and tear Ciprianu's daughter to pieces; and she is now our guest." Anna buried her face in Blanka's bosom.
"And for a very good reason: the insurgents chopped off his head on his own threshold." Even this intelligence could not destroy Blanka's appetite. She ate her sardines with unusual relish, and Vajdar could see that she gave little credence to his words. "Stormy times are ahead of us," he went on, "and I assure you this is the only safe retreat for you, the holy city, the home of peace."
Of the two wings of the palace, Blanka's faced the Tiber, while the other fronted upon the public square. Each wing had a separate garden, divided from its neighbour by a high wall of masonry, and the only connection between the two parts of the house was a long corridor, all passage through which was closed.
"Certainly not; the lamps are all lighted." While the hostess was out of the room, her guest turned over Blanka's portfolio of drawings, and among them found her outline sketch of the Colosseum. "You sketch beautifully," commented the marchioness, upon the other's return. "It is my only diversion," replied the princess. "This view of the Colosseum reminds me of one I saw at the Rossis'."
So the lawyer's conversion had met with its reward even in this world. But Blanka's enjoyment of house and home and yearly income was made dependent on a certain condition: she was never to leave Rome. The nature of the decree rendered this provision necessary.
How her lover's image grew in Blanka's heart and assumed larger proportions as she listened to this recital! The twin sister was the brother's complement. It was necessary to know the nature of the one in order to understand that of the other.
I have a friend, after all, a friend that I have made since coming into this country, and should much like to see at my wedding. It is Zenobia, Ciprianu's daughter." At sunset they reached the Aranyos River, beyond which lay the longed-for home, the happy valley which, from Manasseh's description, had so often been the subject of Blanka's dreams. At last she was to see Toroczko.
Let the robbers come if they wish; he is armed and ready for them. In this confidence Blanka's entire mood underwent a change: she became light-hearted almost to the point of unrestrained gaiety. At the very door of her hotel she began to exchange pleasantries with the landlord, who came forward to greet her with the announcement that a gentleman, a count, had called upon her in her absence.
There the scythe and the ploughshare were being fashioned, and all the implements wherewith the hand of man subdued to his use those rugged hillsides. "If I could only paint that picture!" sighed Manasseh. "You succeeded with the Colosseum," was Blanka's encouraging rejoinder. "That was Rome, this is Toroczko. I could hit my sweetheart's likeness; my mother's is beyond me."
"Ah, you don't remember it, after all." "I can't play when I look at you," was the reply; and the Marchioness Caldariva believed her. "You could drive a man fairly insane." "As long as the men will torment us, we must be able to pay them back." She took Blanka's arm and returned with her to the other room. "Woe to him who invades my kingdom!" she continued. "He is bound to lose his reason.
Word Of The Day