afraid Clementina was a poor
physiognomist, she might have noticed from his face how utterly
indifferent he was to her and her embroidery, which he regarded with
puckered eyes and screwed-up mouth.

"No good. Those flowers are too big; it is the sort of thing the
Wallachian peasants stitch on to their shirts." And with that he took up
Clementina's scissors from the work-table and deliberately snipped into
little bits the whole of the difficult piece of work which the worthy
woman had been slaving away at for a week and more, finally pitching it
away contemptuously while she sat there and stared at him dumfoundered.

"John, John!" said the old man in mild remonstrance.

"To show me such rubbish when I am mad! When I am wroth! When I am
beside myself with fury!"

"Why are you angry, and with whom?"

John went on as if he did not mean to tell the cause of his anger. He
flung himself into an armchair, crossed his legs, plunged his hands into
the depths of his pockets and then, starting up, began to pace the room
again.

"I am furious."

"Then what's the matter?" enquired the old man anxiously.

John again flung himself into an armchair and cocked one leg over the
arm of the chair: "It is all that good-for-nothing Hatszegi!" he cried.
"The fellow is a villain, a scoundrel, a robber!"

"What has he done?"

"What has he done?" cried John, leaping to his feet again, "I'll tell
you. Yesterday he sent word to me by his broker that he would like to
buy those houses of ours in the Szechenyi Square which I have offered
for sale. Wishing to save broker's expenses I went to see him myself at
twelve o'clock. Surely that is the most convenient time for paying
business calls. At least I have always supposed so. I entered his
ante-chamber and there stood a flunkey. He told me I must wait! Told
_me_ forsooth--_me_, John Lapussa--that I must cool my heels in an
ante-chamber, at an inn, to please that wretched Hatszegi. Very well. I
waited. I sent him a message that I _would_ wait. Meanwhile I found I
could not sit down anywhere, for the rascal had piled dirty boots and
brushes on all the chairs. Presently the rascal of a servant came back
and told me that his master could not see me then, would I come back
again in the afternoon--I, John Lapussa, forsooth! Absolutely would not
speak to me, but told me to come again another time! Thou dog, thou
wretched rascal! But wait, I say, that's all!"

At this the old man also grew excit