Hungarian Rhapsody

by Wendy Teller

  Clara stuck out her lower lip and looked down.

  "We'll have time for lots of adventures together here. You enjoy the park today. We'll do something special soon. Maybe we could visit Gül Baba's tomb."

  "Gül Baba?"

  "He was a dervish poet! He was a Muslim, who lived here when the Turks ruled. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent named him the patron saint of Buda."

  "Can he be a saint if he's Muslim?"

  Ella had to chuckle.

  "I suppose, little sleuth, he was a saint for the Muslims."

  The prospect of a dervish poet pleased Clara and during dinner she asked Aunt Ilona about him.

  After dinner, Ella returned to the study to read more. She found an index at the back of the book and she used that to read sections she thought she might more readily understand.

  Ede argued that women should wear sensible clothes. No corsets! Woman should eat plenty of fresh vegetables. And get exercise. How could she disagree with that?

  He wrote that they should be educated, be allowed to attend classes with boys.

  Co-education!

  It took her breath away. To be able to go to university seemed beyond her reach. But to be allowed in the same gymnasium as boys? That seemed the foundation for the real opportunity to learn.

  Women should be allowed in the professions, just like men. Ella closed her eyes. If she could be anything, what would it be? Her mind swam. So many possibilities.

  Women should be allowed to vote. She was startled. She knew nothing about politics. This seemed like a burden to her. She would have a lot to learn before she would vote.

  She turned to the last section: The Responsibilities of Marriage. It was all there: contraception, abortion and.... Her eyes fell on the sentence:

  "The law says violent intercourse, rape and infestation with disease are not punishable if the offender and the victim are married before the criminal conviction is pronounced."

  This law, Ede wrote, that allowed men to rape woman, to abuse women, whatever their marital status, is criminal.

  Ella sighed.

  That was the denial she wanted.

  And he must have written it before she had asked him about Mother's comments. It was a denial before the accusation, so he must believe it!

  Even beyond this, he wrote:

  “A woman not only has a legitimate desire for sexual satisfaction. It is required, not only for her health, but for a satisfied and faithful husband, a happy family, and ultimately for the survival of the community at large.”

  She looked out the window. How could she have doubted Ede? Sweet Ede.

  Her eyes wandered back to the book. She turned the page, her eyes skimming here and there, until they stopped on a passage.

  Her hand flew to her mouth.

  The words, explaining exactly how to stimulate sexual desire in a woman, excited her.

  She remembered Ede's touch. She remembered his words: "It will not be true unless... we share our vulnerability and together surrender to our desires."

  Book Review

  "Ede, you seem a little reserved this evening?" Aunt Ilona stared at him. "Is everything all right?"

  He took a sip of his wine. "I'm fine. Just a busy day."

  Aunt Ilona was right. Ede had greeted everyone in the usual way this evening, the kissing of cheeks, the ruffling of Clara's head, the polite nod to Moni, but his mind seemed elsewhere.

  And during the light evening meal, it was Clara who did most of the talking, about the city park with its animals and the swimming pool, but mostly about the surprise Aunt Ilona had promised: Vajdahunyad Castle, a scale model of several castles that had been important in Hungarian history.

  After supper, Aunt Ilona, Clara, and Moni went to Clara's room to read about Gül Baba.

  Ella asked Flora to bring some wine to the office.

  "Do you think you'll be able to review the proofs?"

  The question burst from Ede as he sat on the sofa. Maybe it was what had preoccupied him earlier.

  Ella sat next to him. "It is an interesting book."

  His gaze skimmed her face as he sat at the edge of the sofa.

  She poured wine for him and took some for herself.

  "I don't understand some of it."

  He nodded. "Of course." The creases on his forehead deepened.

  In reality, some of what she read, she just disagreed with, but she hesitated to say more. He, after all, was Dr. Herczeg. She was just Ella. Still she couldn't help herself.

  "You say women's inability to compete with men intellectually is caused, in part, by their menstrual cycle."

  "Yes. A number of studies show a woman's physical capacity is hindered during her period. And that would hinder her intellectual abilities as well."

  Ella knew nothing of the methods of scientific studies, of the literature. Had Cousin Ervin written this book, she might have held her tongue. But Ede wrote it. She trusted he would listen.

  "I object on two counts."

  "Yes, yes." His eyes, set on her, brightened.

  "First, on personal experience. I don't notice my periods. Well, maybe a twinge, but that's all. My period never stopped me from studying, from thinking."

  Ede nodded. "Glad to hear this, my dear. But one person's experience is not statistically significant."

  Ella considered this. "If I read these proofs, you must teach me statistics, so I will understand."

  His eyes shone. "Of course, Ella. We will study statistics."

  She was disappointed her objection was so easily dismissed, but she had another.

  "You know Ede, it is not just women who have to deal with problems related to their sex." She studied him. "I believe you have spent considerable time worrying about the 'Sorrows of Sex'. How much intellectual work did you get done then?"

  "Interesting." He looked off in the distance, slowly rubbing his chin. "We'll have to consider that."

  As if he had made a decision his eyes rested on her again.

  "You are the perfect colleague, Ella."

  She sighed at the 'we'.

  "I love most of what I read, about education and careers."

  He settled back into the sofa, smiling.

  "I am sure I can read it two or three times before the deadline.”

  The words came easily now.

  “I like your crusade." She shrugged. "At least the parts I agree with."

  He chuckled, nodding his head.

  "Maybe I want it to be my crusade too."

  "Even better." He put down his glass.

  "I will read it." She grinned. "But beware, for I am determined to find every single mistake in it."

  His eyes were bright, his lips turned down in his fake frown.

  "I tremble exceedingly before mine enemy."

  She hesitated.

  She had pictured what she would do next, but now it seemed forbidding. Did she really want to do this?

  Her throat tightened. Her breath came in little wisps.

  Yes.

  She would do this.

  It was what she wanted.

  She slid over so their bodies touched. She drew in a deep breath.

  "I like what you wrote in the last chapter."

  Her fingers trembled as she touched his hair.

  "I wish I had read it before you asked me to marry you."

  "Yes." His eyes glimmered and grew soft. "It would have been better."

  She drew in another breath, willing her voice to be calm.

  "But now I understand more."

  She leaned her body into his, placing her hands on his cheeks.

  "I desire more."

  She pulled him toward her, kissing him. She leaned back and looked into his kind hazel eyes.

  It was right.

  It was what she wanted.

  "Let you kiss me with the kisses of your mouth: for your love is better than wine."

  She ran her hands along his face.

  "Kisses sweeter than poems. Or books. Or crusades."
r />   She saw the glint of tears in his eyes as he drew her to him.

  Ella woke, feeling Ede’s breath on her face.

  "Ella, my own." His fingers brushed her cheek.

  She opened her eyes, seeing Ede's sweet smile lit by the full moon filtering in from the window.

  "Ella, I must go." He stood reaching for his jacket. "It is quite late and we would not want to..."

  She sat up. "Yes, of course."

  She smoothed her hair back. "But you must answer one question before you go."

  He pulled his jacket on and straightened his tie. "Yes, my beloved Ella, what is it?"

  "Will you marry me?"

  A Better Way

  The next day after dinner, Ella and Ede meandered the grounds surrounding the Buda Castle, Ella stopping at the foot of a statue.

  She shielded her eyes as she looked up at the figures of a man and a horse, the horse's head thrown high, his nostrils wide, his haunches flexed, ready to spring free from the man, the man leaning back, putting his full weight into the tug on the bridle's reins, his wide sleeve fallen back, displaying the sinews of his powerful arm. He stares into the beast's wild eye, as if he can convince the animal of his power with his stony look.

  "It's magnificent."

  "Magnificent?" Ede shook his head. "Moving, yes." He snorted. "But I feel sorry for the beast."

  Ella turned her eyes to Ede, considering his words. It was a powerful statue, but sad, sad for the terrified horse.

  "Moving." Ede grimaced. "And very Old Hungarian, Eastern, as if man can overcome all adversaries with pure muscle and fierce rage."

  Ede put his hand on her elbow and guided her to an overlook of the Danube and Pest.

  "Let's look at the view of our new home town."

  He rested his hands on the wall surrounding the overlook.

  Her eyes ran along the far shore of the river.

  "The Parliament building, pure muscle and fierce rage?" She looked at Ede. "Old Hungarian, Eastern?"

  He laughed. "It reminds some people of the British Parliament. Even so, it is very Hungarian and old Hungarian at that. But we will find a way to make it Western."

  He looked at her, his smile still broad. "So, my dear fiancée, when do we leave for Nagykanizsa?"

  "Nagykanizsa? Why would we go to Nagykanizsa?"

  His smile faded, replaced by a quizzical look. "To be married."

  "Couldn't we just get married here?"

  His forehead creased, his lips frowned. "We might be able to, but it won’t be easy."

  She pursed her lips. "Why not?"

  "Well, among other things, my dear, the state requires the consent of your father, since you are under 20."

  She frowned and looked down.

  "If you really want to be married here, I think we could get over that hurdle and several others."

  She looked up at him smiling. "That is what I want."

  His face was serious. "But I wouldn't advise it."

  "Why not?"

  "To start with, it is cruel to your mother."

  "Cruel to Mother?"

  "Yes."

  He held her gaze, his eyes stern. "All of Nagykanizsa will know that her daughter got married without her father's consent. That she was not married in her hometown."

  Ella looked away, but Ede placed his finger on her chin and turned her face to his.

  "It will be the scandal she has been trying to avoid. Her friends will shun her."

  She felt her cheeks burn. "Mother worries too much about scandal."

  "I think you are too hard on your mother. She did what she thought she must to make your life secure."

  Ella, looking down, pushed her toe into the wall.

  "And Ella." Again Ede's finger on Ella's chin forced her to look into his eyes. "I think it will be hard on your father."

  "Father wouldn't care." She shrugged. "He'll probably be happy to be rid of me and my fights with Mother."

  She had tried not to think about Father since her mother accused him of such savagery. She didn't know what to think, feeling panicky each time she tried to understand.

  "But it may be bad for his business." Ede's lips held a gentle smile. "People may not want to do business with him. How could he keep his business in order if he cannot keep his daughter under control?"

  Ella reluctantly nodded.

  "But worst of all, it will be bad for Clara."

  Ella inhaled and thought of Clara's tears at the train station. She shook her head.

  "Her friends will avoid her." Ede stared at her.

  "I should care. Especially about Clara, I should care."

  She stamped her foot. "But how can I celebrate my marriage to you with my parents, my strange parents, who are mysteries to me?"

  She knew she was being childish, but she didn't want anything to do with her parents. She didn't want to think about them.

  "Ella, Ella." Ede placed his hand on her arm. "You are being too hard on them."

  She shook her head.

  "Yes, you are."

  His gaze drifted to Pest. He looked back at her.

  "Your parents are not bad people. They are good people, trying to do the right thing, but their understanding of ‘right’ has been twisted by the society that surrounds them.

  “Your mother and father are a little like that statue: your mother, like the horse, terrified, just trying to survive; your father, like the man, using his muscles and his anger to do what he thinks he must, control her. They do these things not because they are bad. The do these things because they know no other way."

  He smiled.

  "And what we want to do, our crusade, is to show the world there is another way. We need to change the system so that people no longer grow up as your parents did. We need to do it for Clara. For all children. For everyone."

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him.

  "If you make war with your parents, by refusing to follow these marriage conventions, you will convince them of nothing. You will be like the man in that statue."

  Ella bit her lip.

  "But if you follow these small rules of society, these little rituals, when an important problem arises, one which we cannot foresee, then your parents will be more likely to work with us."

  She turned to look back at the statue and thought of Ferenc, who took care of Grandmother's horses. Ferenc had a better way with horses. He was quiet, moved slowly, spoke softly, breathed in their nostrils.

  She remembered the day the stallion was put in the corral with the mare. Sure he stomped and snorted, but Ella believed he was full of joy, not terror. And once he noticed the mare, he greeted her and loved her before he mounted her.

  What would the horse in the statue do if he were put in a corral with a mare?

  She turned to Ede. He was right. There was a better way. The way of Grandmother's horses. The way of last night.

  Sweet, sweet last night.

  She wanted to touch Ede. To do more than touch him.

  She laughed to herself.

  Not here. Not in public.

  That desire, that was what Ede must mean by lust. But, at least for her, it was more than lust.

  It was love.

  She smiled at him. "How soon can we leave for Nagykanizsa?"

  Before the Crusade

  "Well, good afternoon, Miss Weisel." The grin on the station master's face was just as malicious as the day Ella had gone to Budapest alone. "And how is your Aunt?"

  "Very well, thank you, Mr. Kovacs." Ella hoped her smile chilled his enthusiasm for gossip. "In fact, there she is."

  Ella looked across the railroad station's hall to where Father and Miklos were greeting Aunt Ilona, Ede, Clara, and Moni.

  "She's so well that she has come to help with the wedding preparations."

  Mr. Kovacs smile remained, but the cynical twinkle in his eye had vanished.

  The next day Mother returned from Grandmother's farm. She did not look nearly as well as Aunt Ilona. Her fa
ce was pale, her hair dull, her dress hung loosely on her shoulders.

  Aunt Ilona put Mother to bed and took charge of the wedding preparations.

  Her ear horn in hand, Aunt Ilona visited Father Lajos, who had taken over after Father Joseph's death. She discovered the peasants in Kiskanizsa who could provide beautiful flowers and she worked with Cook to make sure the Kanizsa City Club, where the reception was to be held, had everything for the wedding dinner.

  After a week, Mother's complexion was rosier, and she helped Ilona in the preparations. They saw after the invitations, the church flowers, and the dresses for the ladies, the table settings and the table seatings.

  But Ilona directed. She directed Ella and Clara, Father and even Mother.

  Ella watched Ilona work, amazed that this apparently sweet, old, hard-of-hearing lady could organize the family like a general readying troops for battle.

  Finally the wedding day arrived, a late summer day, with a whiff of autumn in the air. Ella's only duty was to dress. While the family buzzed around her, she was happy to sit alone, her soul filled with quiet contentment.

  She thought back to the day Ede first proposed they marry. How much had happened! She regretted none of it. Today she knew she wanted to marry Ede. She knew they would make a good life together. She knew they would help make their Hungary a better country. It was that something she had wanted, the inexplicable something she could now explain.

  Mother loved the wedding. Ella loved it too. She loved the Czardas dancers and the Viennese orchestra. She loved waltzing with Father, with Miklos, and with Ede's brother.

  But most of all she loved dancing with Ede.

  Miklos was quiet, spending most of his time talking with Ede's brother. Aunt Ilona fell asleep after the dinner, her silver ear horn on the floor by her hand. Mother talked with her friends, who gathered round chattering. Father went from one table to the next, greeting people, slapping friends on the back, laughing. And Clara danced with every man over thirteen, running back to Ella to boast about her latest conquest.

  At last the food had been eaten, the couple had been toasted, the dances had been danced and Ella and Ede, exhausted, boarded the night train for Budapest.