“Very pleased to meet you, ma’am, and your daughter too. I am Luke Nagyváradi,” and he lifted her hand to his lips.
The two boys then tried to imitate him and gave Teresa’s hand a kiss and then they all giggled.
Luke then said, “This is my son, Luke, and my nephew, Paul. We are going home to Hungary after a long absence.” He then asked, “Is Mr. Van Linden a military man too?”
“He was, but he is no longer with us. He died in a duel,” she replied.
“I am very sorry to hear that. It’s hard to lose someone you love.”
She could feel the sincerity in his voice. Something was drawing her to Luke but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. She felt that he was strong, dependable, and deeply caring. He was also obviously successful, but that wasn’t what she was drawn to. He in turn saw a lovely woman that he was also drawn to. They chatted on late into the night. Teresa laid her head in her mother’s lap and fell asleep.
Luke told Lydia all about America and how he and his brother, Paul, had established a large horse raising operation. The boys were sitting quietly half asleep. They sensed that Big Luke was not interested in talking to them at the moment. Lydia wondered how this could be happening. She hung on every word Luke said and didn’t want the conversation to end. She was drawn to Luke like a magnet.
It was after midnight when they finally arrived in Vienna. Lydia’s brother was waiting for her. Luke and the boys handed the girls down to him and he took over. Lydia asked where Luke would be staying. He told her that he didn’t know for sure and asked her to recommend a place for them. She told him to stay at the Leopold and then from there they could walk to the general’s house. She told him that she would call on him the next day after 11:00, which was only proper. She and Teresa then left with her brother.
Luke and the boys took a carriage to the hotel. He got a room for himself and one for the boys. He told the hotel man that he wanted to be woken up at 9:00 a.m. The boys asked him if they could go with him when he went to see the general, and he agreed to let them come.
That next morning Luke cleaned up and then woke the boys up. They had breakfast and then asked for directions to the general’s house. It was a very modest house and Luke thought to himself, “Not all generals are rich.” He went to the door at exactly 11:00 a.m. and knocked. Lydia opened the door and smiled. She said, “You are right on time, sir.” Luke kissed her hand. She then said, “I will call my father,” and laughed. An older woman was watching them.
Lydia called up the stairs to her father and said, “Father, a General Nagyváradi is here to see you.”
A deep voice bellowed back, “I will be down in a minute.”
Lydia then introduced her mother to Luke and the boys. Luke kissed the mother’s hand and greeted her. A few moments later General Van Stollen walked in. He was a tall, older man. Luke straightened up and clicked his heels together. He then introduced himself and shook the general’s hand. Luke then produced the sword that he had wrapped in some cloth. He respectfully unwrapped the sword and presented it to the general. He then apologized to the general for how long it had taken him to get the sword back to him. He told him that after the war he and his brother had gone to America and he was just now making a return visit back to Hungary. The entire time Luke talked to the general he had his eyes fixated on the sword.
He looked up at Luke with tears in his eyes and said, “This is my grandfather’s sword.” He then asked Luke, “Which one of those young fellows were you?”
“I was the lieutenant and my brother was in command,” Luke replied.
“Is your brother in America too?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” Luke answered.
“Well young man, I didn’t know if I was ever going to see this sword again,” the general stated.
Lydia then asked her father, “May I invite the general and his boys to stay for lunch, Father?”
“Of course,” Van Stollen insisted. He then asked Luke, “Who were you serving with during the war in America?”
“I was second under Sheridan. Have you heard of him, sir?”
“Yes, of course,” the general acknowledged. “I tried to follow the war as closely as I could.”
Lydia was busy setting the table with her mother. Young Luke and Paul were quietly looking on. Van Stollen asked Luke, “Who are these fine looking young men?” Luke introduced them to the general. Lydia’s daughter came downstairs and the boys went to greet her and they went into the other room.
Lydia asked her father if she could see the sword. She said, “I remember it from when I was a little girl. I was very young when my father went to war.”
Luke asked her, “Have you ever been to Hungary, Lydia?”
“No, but I would like to see it,” she replied.
Van Stollen asked Luke, “How do you know my daughter?”
“We met by chance yesterday on the train and I asked her for directions. I didn’t know that she was your daughter,” he answered.
Van Stollen directed the conversation back to the war but he noticed that his daughter didn’t miss a word that Luke said. She was mesmerized by him.
When they finally sat down to eat, Lydia sat next to Luke, which wasn’t her usual place. Luke was of course the perfect gentleman and seated her properly.
When Lydia was finally able to get a word in she asked Luke, “Where in Hungary did you come from?” He tried his best to explain it to her. She then asked him, “Were you Catholic there?”
“Yes, of course,” he assured her. “But we don’t have the beautiful churches like you do here. My great-grandfather had ours built. It only has two bells, and I used to ring them when I was a boy. It is a nice church to us though,” Luke stated.
The two continued to chit-chat for a while. General Van Stollen hadn’t seen his daughter this interested in a man in a long time. She seemed smitten. Luke told her about the big house and that the basement walls were three meters thick. He told her that it was most likely built before the Turkish invasion. Both of them were talking so much that neither of them had eaten very much of their lunch.
Luke then told Lydia that he was going to delay his trip and stay in Vienna so that he could call on her if she was interested. He then boldly said, “We could get married on the boat and then when we get to my village in Hungary, Father Tony our priest could marry us in the church.”
Linda, with excitement in her voice, stated, “I would like that very much, Luke.”
Luke then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Everyone sitting at the table was speechless.
After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, Van Stollen spoke up and said, “I don’t know if this is proper, Lydia.”
“I am sure that it’s not, father, but I am going with him,” she responded.
Teresa then spoke up and asked, “What about me, mother?”
Lydia looked at Luke and he said, “I guess you’d better start packing, Teresa.”
Lydia’s mother then invited everyone to gather into the living room. General Van Stollen walked over to the window and looked outside for a while. He then said in a solemn tone, “He brings me back my sword and then takes away my daughter. I just don’t know about these Hungarians.”
Teresa and the boys were talking and she said, “I don’t know what I should bring.”
Paul said, “Just bring enough for the boat trip and then let my uncle buy you some new things when we get to Budapest.”
Luke heard Paul and said, “That goes for you too, Lydia. When we get to Budapest you girls can go shopping.”
Van Stollen asked Luke, “Tell me, General, has anything ever stood in your way?”
“Not for long, General,” he replied. And then they both laughed.
Van Stollen realized that his daughter was falling into the hands of an exceptional man that seemed to be in love wit
h her. He had no intention of interfering in any way and gave the two his blessing. Van Stollen then asked Luke if they would be able to get to know him a little better in the future.
Luke said, “I am going to Hungary for a short while and then I will be stopping here on my way back to America to relieve my brother, Paul, so that he and his wife can visit my father before he dies. When we get to Hungary, the boys can decide if they want to stay there or go back to America with me. It’s their choice.”
Paul spoke up and said, “If it’s like you said where everybody takes their hats off to us, then I just might stay.”
Luke told him, “You should remember one thing, Paul, everybody in our village works for us. They are loyal to us. They live in houses on our land and they also farm the land for us. Some families have lived on the same plot for 300 years. For their loyalty, we give them respect and help them in every way we can. They are free people. We don’t own them. We depend on them just as much as they depend on us, so there will be no sticking your nose up at them. You will meet them half way. They are our people.”
Teresa asked, “Where will I finish school?”
Luke said, “It would be nice if you went to our village for a short while and learned Hungarian. If you want to, that is. Then you could go to school wherever you wanted.”
Lydia spoke up and said, “I think we’d better start packing, Teresa.”
“I will go and buy a ring. We are leaving in the morning,” Luke told Lydia.
Luke then turned to Lydia’s mother and father and asked, “Can I take you both out for a nice meal tonight?”
“Of course you can,” the general stated.
Young Luke then asked, “What about us, Dad?”
“Well, you boys can ask Teresa if she’ll show you around Vienna. I will give you some money so that you can rent a carriage and grab something to eat,” Luke told him.
Lydia got her coat and she and Luke caught a passing carriage and went to a jeweler that Lydia recommended. Everyone inside was dressed very formally and the clerks ignored the two when they went inside. The store owner happened to stop in and noticed that his employees were ignoring Luke and Lydia who were looking at some of the most expensive jewelry in the store. He rushed over to them and introduced himself.
Lydia introduced Luke to him and said, “This is General Nagyváradi. The general and I are looking for a wedding band.” Lydia then asked Luke to please pick her one out. Luke picked out just a plain band. Lydia was a little upset and thought he was going to pick out something a little nicer. Luke then asked the jeweler to show him the diamond bracelet and necklace they had been looking at earlier. The man took them out of the case and Luke put the necklace on Lydia and kissed her neck. The three items totaled 1,500 US dollars.
Lydia was shocked and said, “Luke, it’s too much.”
“Well honey, enjoy it while it lasts. I won’t be buying this kind of stuff every day. I want you to wear them tonight when we go to dinner with your parents.”
That evening they went to a very nice restaurant that Lydia had recommended. Her brother went with them too. He was a captain in the infantry and his name was Wilhelm. He and Luke talked about the war in Hungary.
Van Stollen told Luke, “The hanging of some of your officers was a total disgrace. Our general staff was very much against that.”
“I am glad to hear you say that, sir,” Luke replied.
That next morning they boarded the boat. They would have to transfer to a Hungarian boat a day and a half later. They were planning on getting married on the second boat.
Once on the second boat, they had a simple ceremony in the saloon and had a nice dinner afterwards. When Luke and Lydia went to their bedroom that night he asked her if she felt like she had been rushed into everything.
Lydia answered, “No, I want you very much. Probably more than you want me.”
“I highly doubt that, dear. I have been lonely for a very long time,” Luke assured her.
“I have too. Now that we have each other, neither of us will feel lonely again,” she replied.
When they got to Budapest they did some shopping and got on a train to Debrecen. From there, they took a carriage the rest of the way to the village. They also rented two horses for the boys to ride.
15
When they arrived at the village, Luke’s father and uncle greeted them on the steps of the big house. Maria was there too. Luke introduced the boys to his family. Lydia was greeted with love and so was Teresa. Luke started to teach Lydia some Hungarian on the way there, so she knew a little by the time they got there.
Maria was so happy to see her son and grandson. She was really impressed with Lydia. Luke told them that they wanted to get remarried in the village church. John was happy about that. He said, “Your troops will celebrate. The whole village with celebrate.”
The following evening Luke went into the village and visited all of his friends. He visited the old sergeant who served as his very first sergeant. Everybody was happy to have him back and they all still called him captain.
The next Sunday they all went to church. The whole village was there to see Luke and his family. A large group of people had been waiting outside of the church well before the services began, in hopes of getting a glimpse of Luke and his family. Young Luke and Paul were a little overwhelmed. They didn’t know what to make of all this attention and admiration. When Father Tony arrived, he hugged Luke and Lydia. Uncle John then rode up on a big black stallion then got off and began greeting everybody.
It wasn’t long before the humming sound of chatter was interrupted by gasps and shrieks. A young bull was charging down the street. It had broken out of the stockyard. Just then Luke’s old sergeant’s daughter started to cross the street and the bull was headed right for her. All of a sudden Paul ran to Uncle John’s black horse, jumped on its back, jerked its head around, and sunk in his spurs. The stallion shot off like a cannon. When Paul got up to the bull, he put one of his elbows around one of its horns and pushed on the other. To the astonishment of the whole village, Paul laid the bull down. As soon as it was on the ground, Paul walked over to the girl, took her by the hand, and finished walking her across the street. He thought that she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She was 14 and was wearing a beautiful pink Hungarian dress. Paul walked Ilonka over to the horse and grabbed the reins. He then started to walk the horse and Ilonka back to the church. She noticed that his elbow was bleeding and pointed it out to him. He said, “It’s nothing” but she didn’t understand what he was saying. He held her hand as they walked back to the church.
Everyone in the village was stunned. They had never seen anything like that. The priest gave thanks to God for Ilonka’s safety and for Paul’s strength and courage in saving her.
While they were walking down the road, a young girl ran out to Ilonka, wrapped her arms around her, and hugged her tight. She was so happy she was safe. They started walking again and Paul grabbed Ilonka’s hand. He didn’t want to let it go.
A carriage driver rode up to them and he took the reins from Paul and got in the saddle of the black. He was heading after the bull to put it back in the stockyard.
Just then a girl screamed. Paul looked up the street and saw that the bull had turned and was running toward a boy who was standing next to young Luke. Young Luke ran for the bull before it reached the boy and he grabbed its tail. The bull was dragging him down the road. Young Luke must have twisted its tail, because the bull whirled around and was mad as hell. Young Luke let go of its tail, ran toward the bull, and then jumped on its back. The bull was real mad now and it started bucking like the devil. Luckily it had turned around and was headed towards the stockyard. Paul started running after them so that he could help. Young Luke jumped off the bull and then he and Paul chased it back towards the stockyard. The fellow on the horse went around them and tossed a big bull whip to Young Luke
. He then went and opened the gate and the bull went inside. The rider offered the horse to Young Luke to ride, but he chose to walk back with Paul. They were both laughing about what had just happened. They were lucky that Tex had taught them so much about cattle. It came in real handy.
When they got back to the church, an old man with a big mustache hugged Paul to him and pounded him on the back. A woman came up and gave Ilonka a kiss and Paul one too. He assumed that the woman was Ilonka’s mother. As Paul walked past the priest, he made the sign of the cross. Big Luke was standing by the priest and said, “Nice work, Paul.”
Paul and Ilonka walked hand in hand down the aisle to find a pew. Ilonka pointed to the front row. Paul let her go in first and then followed behind her. Her mother came down and sat on Paul’s other side and old mustache was right behind her. Paul’s grandfather, Uncle Luke, Lydia, Maria, Teresa, and young Luke sat up front in some special seats. Paul’s grandfather looked down at Paul and smiled. He was proud of his grandsons and was impressed with their bravery.
When the priest started his sermon, the majority of it was on how Paul had saved Ilonka’s life and how God had just performed a miracle. He even went over and put his hands on Paul’s head several times while he was preaching and blessed him each time he did. Ilonka was smitten with Paul. When they knelt down for the prayer, Paul noticed some dust next to the hymn book and he drew a heart in the dust and showed it to Ilonka. She smiled at him.
After the services, I introduced Uncle Luke to Ilonka. He asked her what her last name was. She told him it was Puskás. He then asked her if she was Sergeant Puskás’ daughter and she acknowledged that she was. He then told Paul that her father was his first sergeant’s daughter. Paul asked him if it would be all right if he brought Ilonka to Uncle John’s for lunch. Luke told him that he would ask John to make sure that it was okay.
When they went outside, Ilonka’s father was waiting outside the church. As soon as he saw Luke he saluted him. Luke went up to him and shook his hand. Luke then shook his wife’s hand. Luke told her that he had remembered her from school. He then introduced Lydia to them. Ilonka’s mother curtsied to Lydia. Linda appreciated the gesture and gave Ilonka’s mother a kiss on the cheek.
The Nagyvradi Brothers Page 13
