t! To be sure they kept hounds, for when they were returning from a hunt
it might happen that some wretched hare would start up from beneath a
steed; then they let loose the pack at it for sport, and the little lads
chased it on ponies before the eyes of their parents, who hardly deigned
to look on such a chase, much less to quarrel over it! So I beg that Your
Honour the Chamberlain will deign to recall your commands, and will
forgive me that I cannot ride to such a hunting party, and never will set
foot in one! My name is Hreczecha, and since the days of King Lech28 no
Hreczecha has ever ridden out after hares."

Here the laughter of the young men drowned the speech of the Seneschal.
They rose from the table; the Chamberlain moved first; this honour
befitted him from his age and his office; as he advanced he bowed to the
ladies, the old men, and the young men. After him went the Collector of
Alms, and the Judge alongside the Bernardine; at the threshold the Judge
offered his arm to the Chamberlain's wife, Thaddeus to Telimena, the
Assessor to the Carver's daughter, and finally the Notary to Panna
Hreczecha, the daughter of the Seneschal.

Thaddeus went to the stable with several of the guests, and felt
disturbed, glum, and morose; he thought over all the events of the day,
the meeting and the supper by the side of his fair neighbour--and in
particular the word "aunt" buzzed continually in his ear like an
importunate fly. He would have liked to learn more about Pani Telimena
from the Apparitor, but he could not catch him; nor did he see the
Seneschal, for immediately after supper all had followed the guests out,
as befits serving men, and had gone to prepare the rooms for rest. The
older people and the ladies slept in the mansion; the young men Thaddeus,
as the host's representative, had been directed to take to the stable,
where they were to sleep on the hay.

Within a half-hour it was as quiet on the whole estate as in a cloister
after the bell for prayer; the silence was interrupted only by the voice
of the night watchman. All were asleep. The Judge alone did not close his
eyes; as the head of the estate, he was thinking over a walking party, and
the coming entertainment within the house. He gave orders to the stewards,
the overseers, and the grain-wardens; to the scribes, the housekeeper, the
huntsmen, and the grooms; and he had to look through all the day's
accounts; finally he told the Apparitor that he wished to