Hungarian Rhapsody

by Wendy Teller

  Father's eyes skimmed her face. "Cheer up, my little Ella. It is very good news." He patted her on the back as he sat beside her on her bed, placing his walking stick beside him. "News you will like."

  She folded her hands on her lap. She refused to give him the satisfaction that she wished to know her future.

  In fact, he did not know her future. She would run away. She had already decided that. So it really didn't matter who they'd found to marry her.

  She looked at her hands, rubbing one thumb over the other.

  "Ede."

  Her eyes darted to Father's face. "Oh."

  "Yes, isn't it marvelous? Wonderful?" He rubbed her back as he spoke, his words cascading out. "Mother isn't happy about this. Of course I should not tell you that. She doesn't like Ede, especially after she found out that the two of you...." He beamed at his daughter. "Well, no need to go into that."

  Having caught his breath, Father continued. "Anyhow, he came to me early in the morning. The morning after... well... we don't need to talk about that either. Early in the morning. I'd hardly finished my breakfast. He came to me all pale and agitated."

  Father's smile widened, his eyes twinkled. "Like someone in love!" His smile grew even broader. "He loves you, my dear."

  She nodded.

  He grasped his walking stick, running his fingers over the design embossed in the silver handle.

  "Not that love should have anything to do with this. Marriage is a business arrangement. And, like an idiot, Ede had not thought through the details, had not discussed this with his brother."

  "His brother?" Ella would have understood having to discuss it with his father, but why his brother?

  "Yes, yes, my darling. Endre and Ede officially own the construction company together, so Endre had to be consulted."

  He tapped the tip of his cane on the floor. "But those are details you needn't worry about."

  He stood and stretched. "Anyway, Ede said he wanted to marry you because he loves you."

  Father sat again, and snorted a chuckle. "Mother holds this against him, of course. She says he has no sense. I suppose she is right."

  He shrugged. "But he loves you and that melted my heart."

  Father's fingers returned to tracing the design on the cane's silver handle. "He said Miklos had come to him. Told him about... well the whole story... and he had come to me as quickly as he could and made his proposition."

  He shook his head. "Mother says he is too young. But I have always liked the boy."

  Sighing, Father placed the cane beside him. "Smart boy, in some ways. School learning. Maybe not such good business sense."

  He looked at Ella. "Nice family. His father was my friend." His lip compressed, a cloud saddened his gaze. "I miss him."

  Father sighed and placed his arm around Ella's shoulder. "You look pale, my little one."

  He pulled her close so that her head rested on his shoulder. "I thought this would please you, but you're so quiet."

  She shuddered. Ede had talked to Father. But why had it taken so long for Father to agree? She felt numb.

  "It's been... difficult... with Therese...."

  "Oh yes. That. Yes. Things have been... well, complicated. Yes. Very complicated."

  He rubbed her back. Ella wondered whether this was to comfort her or whether it was to ease his concerns.

  "So Ede comes to me with this, well, not really a proposal, this declaration of love. So what did I do?" He looked at her.

  She shook her head, waiting for his answer.

  "What any reasonable businessman would do. I went to see Endre."

  Father sighed.

  "Lucky Endre was here. He spends so much time at his projects and his projects are always out of town. But I guess he has taken a little time off since he just married and I guess the newlyweds are... well, having some time together. So Endre was home."

  Ella nodded. She really didn't know Endre, Ede's brother. She had hardly ever spoken to him. Father had done business with Tódor, the boys' father for years, Tódor using Father's iron works in his buildings. Father might be happy simply because this match would cement his relationship to Endre from one of business to one of family.

  Father chuckled. "I know, I know. Marriage is usually an agreement between families, with the families not really talking to each other. They talk to the matchmaker."

  He nodded to himself.

  "But there is not much that is usual about this. You are young. Not that young, but young. He is young, very young, just starting out in life. He'll be a lawyer. That's OK."

  Father tilted his head to the side as he grimaced. Clearly he was not sure it was OK.

  "It would have been better if he were a businessman. But, well, you don't need to know about that."

  Father pulled mints from his pocket and offered one to Ella. She shook her head. He unwrapped a candy and put it in his mouth.

  "And Mother was sure that we had to find you a match right now, because, well, because of everything, she just thought it was best to...."

  Ella had to smile. Sometimes Father was graceless. But he was kind.

  Too bad he married Mother. Did he think his marriage had been a good business arrangement? It didn't seem to have anything to do with love.

  Father turned his gaze to his daughter. "And I thought you would be pleased. Because the two of you, well, you have been friends since...."

  "Since before I can remember." Indeed, Ede had always been a part of her life.

  "So you are pleased!" He nodded and grinned.

  She tried to put on a happy face, but the numbness persisted. Best to play to Father's hopes.

  "Yes."

  She put her hand in her pocket and felt the coolness of the keys.

  "Yes. Ede is my friend."

  "Good. You are happy. I mean a marriage is a business arrangement, but it would be better if you were happy. And you are, so give your father a good hug."

  She slid her arm around his waist and leaned against his shoulder. She inhaled his scent of pipe tobacco and mint candy, the smell of Father, sweet and pungent... comforting.

  "So Endre and I have it all figured out. Mother is in a tizzy, of course. I'm sure she will be here in no time to fuss about all the things women fuss about when there is a, well, a wedding."

  A wedding did not happen overnight. There would be dresses and invitations and visits from the priest.

  But none of that mattered. Only one thing must happen: she needed to talk to Ede.

  "Father, may I see Ede now? I mean, since we are to be married."

  "Of course, my little dove. Let me talk to Mother."

  The Necklace

  Ede and Ella sat under "their" tree in the woods. Now that they were engaged, Mother didn't object to their being seen in public together. They had walked to the park, his hand on her elbow, talking of nothing: the warm weather, a bluebird on a branch and the nest, now deserted, next to the bird. As they settled under the tree, it seemed more inviting than any other place in Nagykanizsa.

  She drew her knees up to her chest. He sat straight, looking at her.

  "I'm sorry it took so long to get everybody to agree to the marriage." He snorted. "This idea, that the agreement was really between our families rather than between us, it's just medieval!"

  She smiled. Smiled because he, too, thought the concept of marriage as a business arrangement was wrong.

  "But I think it is important to keep everyone happy." His eyes sparkled as he looked at her. "I think everyone is happy." This was a question really.

  She wasn't happy. She was confused. But she nodded. Better to let him have his say and then they could talk.

  "Miklos came to me, in a state. Poor fellow." Ede expelled a breath, his body sagging. "But that is for another time...." He closed his eyes, shaking his read. "And poor Therese!"

  "I have a question." Ella swallowed. "It's about Therese. About what happened to Therese."

  He looked up at her, his face somber.

 
"Yes?

  "I mean the...." She pulled a strand of hair from her bun and rolled it between her fingers. "I mean the abortion."

  "Yes." He squinted. “The abortion.”

  "That's what you call it when you are pregnant and you get rid of the baby?"

  "Yes."

  "Is that what you meant?” She held her breath, so her words came in a raspy whisper. “Is that how one prevents having children?"

  He smiled. Then he laughed, his smooth rich laugh.

  "No, my little Kis Maria." He shook his head. "No, no, no!"

  She interrupted, her voice loud and rough. "Don't laugh at me."

  His smile faded, replaced by a serious look, but soft and warm.

  "No, my beloved Ella. There are other ways, ways that do not hurt, that you will hardly notice."

  She nodded. "I don't want children."

  "Yes, we have agreed on that." He scrunched his face. "But why?"

  "Because... look at Mother. All she does is care for children and the house. I don't want to be a slave like that."

  "OK. But with enough help...."

  "Mother has Cook and Maid, Moni, and even a companion for me. How much more help can one have?"

  "OK." He sighed. "We can't figure all these things out, Ella, not in this moment. Things will change. We will have to talk and discuss and argue."

  She inhaled. "Yes. We shall argue. We shall argue a lot."

  He kissed her forehead, her cheek, her mouth. He held her at arm's length, his eyes wet.

  "My Ella. My Beloved Ella."

  His hands on her cheeks, he pulled her toward him and kissed her again. And again.

  "We need to get back." She tried to tidy her hair. "Mother has relaxed a bit, but there are limits."

  "Are there?" His laugh drifted through the forest.

  "Shhh."

  "What?” His merry eyes sparkled. “Are you such a proper young lady?"

  She swatted him. His hand grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. "Just one more kiss."

  He took more than one, but finally stood, dusting himself off, then gave her a hand up.

  "I've got a little something for my wife."

  "Wife?"

  "Ella, as far as I am concerned, we are now married. All we needed was our mutual consent."

  "OK." She grinned at him. "But I think Mother is going to insist on the church ceremony and the state will insist we see a judge."

  "And we will do all that, just to keep Mother and the state happy. But now you are my wife. And I have something for my wife."

  He took a small black leather box from his jacket pocket. Opening the box, he pulled out a heart-shaped locket. A deep green emerald gleamed from the center; sparkling diamonds surrounded the green gem and arched gracefully to the locket's rim. Black enamel edged the lines of diamonds, setting off their dazzle.

  Ella had never thought she cared for jewelry, but this was beautiful. It was beautiful and it was a gift from her husband.

  She looked into his hazel eyes. His broad smile revealed a dimple in his right cheek. That felt strange, that she had a husband.

  "Thank you, my husband."

  And it sounded strange.

  He fastened the necklace around her neck, turned her toward him and studied her.

  "Just as I thought. It is the same color as your eyes. The day I decided I wanted to marry you, I bought it, knowing that the emerald was the same color as your eyes."

  He took her hand and they started toward home.

  "Maybe our children will have such beautiful eyes."

  Getting the Trousseau in Order

  Immediately after breakfast the next day, Mother bustled into Ella's room, pen, ink bottle, and paper in hand. Her skirt swished as she settled in a chair at the table.

  "We must sort through your trousseau and see what we still need." She flattened the paper on the table. "So I can tell Father what we must buy. How much money we will need."

  Ella cringed inwardly, but remembered Ede's words: "We will do these things to keep Mother happy."

  "Yes Mother. Thank you."

  "My, you have become such a good daughter. Maybe we should have married you off sooner."

  Ella tried to smile at this, but the statement had a nasty tone. She looked at Mother, whose smile seemed forced.

  "I will write things down as you take them out of the trunk. And we will have to sort through the things in your cabinet too."

  Mother had a special cabinet for her daughters' crystal and china, separate shelves for Ella and Clara.

  Mother held her pen ready to write.

  "When we are finished we will list what we still need."

  Ella nodded. "Of course."

  She opened the trunk.

  Mother had enjoyed looking through things, each time she added to the collection. Ella had hated these times.

  Zsuzsi had wanted to see what she had, but Ella had refused to show her, but not because she was ashamed of her trousseau. Indeed, sometimes she wondered whether Zsuzsi might be envious of the things in the trunk.

  It was something else. Ella didn't want to think of the trousseau and what it represented: a proper Hungarian marriage. She didn't want to be a proper Hungarian wife. She wanted something else.

  But Ede had promised her that something else, that project – it sounded like a crusade – to help Hungary. Going through the trousseau was just a step in the direction she wanted to go. Not the most pleasant step, but a step.

  The first bundle rustled as Ella pulled it from the trunk, fabric wrapped in tissue paper. She undid the paper carefully. It was white brocade silk, for her wedding dress. Ella held it up for Mother to see.

  "Good. Probably the most important thing. We need to take it to the dressmaker. Bring it here."

  Mother put down the pen and waved Ella over. She took the cloth and pulled it to arm's length three times, then folded it.

  "I think it should be enough. We will see what the dressmaker says. We'll want her to make it loose."

  Mother caught Ella's eye.

  Ella repeated Ede's words silently to herself, and touched the necklace, which hung hidden under her blouse. She would not rise to this taunt, this reference to the corset scene.

  "Yes, Mother."

  Mother nodded. "If we were not in such a hurry to get you married, we could have Dulcy make your gown."

  Another taunt. Dulcy was THE dressmaker in Vienna. Mother was saying if you were a good daughter, you could have a nice gown. Now you will have only a good-enough gown, made by the local seamstress, who did mending most of the time.

  Ella touched the necklace.

  "Yes, Mother."

  "If it is not enough, we will save it for Clara and get you other material." Mother wrote on her paper. "We'll have to see what we can get here."

  "When is Clara coming home?" Ella missed Clara, who was still at Grandmother's.

  "I'm not sure. I've sent word to Grandmother to send her home when it's convenient, when she has to send something here anyway."

  It wasn't that far to Grandmother's, just two hours by cart. Mother didn't seem to want Clara here.

  "Will she need a new dress for the wedding?"

  "Yes, yes." Mother nodded approvingly. "Yes. That is a good point. I have an old dress. The dressmaker can use that material to make a dress for Clara. But she will need a little time to do that." She wrote on her paper again. "Rewrap this and put it on the bed."

  Ella did as she was told and took the next parcel out of the trunk.

  An hour later, Ella pulled the first piece of silver from the trunk.

  "We will need to get the engraving done." Mother wrote on the paper. "But that does not need to be done before the wedding."

  Ella placed the last piece of silver on the table. Mother counted and recounted. Ella wondered whether she liked counting, she seemed to spend so much time doing it.

  When the counting was done and everything was replaced in the trunk, Mother locked it.

  Mother leaned
back in her chair, reading through her list, making notes here and there.

  "I think we need another tablecloth, napkins, and we certainly need another layette."

  Ella sighed. Mother expected her to knit another baby jacket, pants, cap, socks, mittens, and hat.

  "Mother, babies don't come so soon."

  Mother's laugh had a morose tone. "You'd be surprised how quickly they come."

  "Really?" She looked at her mother.

  Mother sat taller, rolling her shoulders. "Yes, yes. Go fetch my knitting basket. I will help. It won't take so long, with two of us working."

  Ella stared at her mother. She considered knitting an onerous task, one that Mother demanded she do. She almost considered it a punishment. And here her mother was offering to help.

  "Thank you!"

  "Yes, yes." Mother smiled at Ella. "I should spend some time with my daughter, my reformed daughter, who is about to become a wife."

  Budapest Plans

  The next day Ede and Ella walked side by side to the top of a hill on the outskirts of Nagykanizsa. They said little. When they had reached the crest Ede spread a blanket in the shade of an old oak tree. They settled on the cover, Ede, pulling her close, kissing her, stroking her cheek.

  Sometime later Ella rolled on her back and looked up. "What a beautiful old tree."

  "A little gnarled, I'd say."

  "Yes, when you get old, you get gnarled." She pulled a strand of her hair loose and rolled it between her fingers. "And interesting."

  He laughed. "You are already quite interesting. I hope I can stand how interesting you will become when you are old and gnarled."

  She tried to frown, but she knew he could see her grin.

  "How are the wedding plans coming?"

  "Mother is being as difficult as she can, now that I am not completely under her control. But I count the days, only 62 more days."

  She picked up a twig and peeled the bark back. She didn't need to think of Mother; she could think about the future.

  "Only 62 days and then Budapest." She looked up from her twig. "Where will we live?"

  "We'll stay in a hotel until we can find an apartment." His hand rested on her knee. "We have to find a home that we both like, with room for lots of books, and a place for both of us to work."