Hatszegi helped his wife to adjust her mantle over her shoulders, and
impressed a cold kiss upon her forehead. Henrietta once more thanked him
warmly for being so good to her and allowed Mr. Gerzson to escort her
down the steps. The old gentleman, however, would not allow himself to
be persuaded to take his place in the carriage by her side. His hands
itched to hold the reins and he would, he said, be sure to go to sleep
and make himself a nuisance if he sat inside. So he had his way, and
indeed in all the Hungarian plain a more adroit and careful driver could
not have been found.
Gradually the night began to die away and the sky began to grow lighter
behind the mountains of Bihar, which they had now left behind them. The
smaller stars vanished in groups before the brightening twilight; only
the larger constellations still sparkled through the dawn. Presently a
hue of burning pink lit up the sky and long straight strips of cloud
swam, like golden ribbons, before the rising sun whose increasing
radiance already lit up the broad cupolas of the dark mountains. Before
the travellers extended the endless plain of the _Alfoeld_,[36] like a
bridge rising from her bed to greet her beloved Lord, the Sun.
[Footnote 36: The great Hungarian plain.]
On Mr. Gerzson, however, the romantic spectacle of sunrise on the
_puszta_ produced no romantic impression whatsoever.
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