A Strong and Mighty Wind - Book 5: The Wilderness by Douglass Graem

A Strong and Mighty Wind! Book Five:! !

The Wilderness! ! !

Douglass Graem

A STRONG AND MIGHTY WIND

BOOK FIVE THE HILDERNESS

Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life ••• But he himself went ••• into the wilderness. I Kings 19: 3 ]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE THE MEN FROM MOSCOW

The leaders must all be killed. Peace must be concluded only after total victory and complete destruction. Genghis ~n, about 800 years ago. (Roosevel t and Churchill) wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them .... After the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to establish a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety wi thin their own boundaries and which will afford assurance that all men in all lands may live out their lives in freedom from want and fear. Joint declaration of President Roosevelt of the united States and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, August 14, 1941. It is a mistake to believe that a thought system based on lies is weak. Nothing made by a child of God is without power. A Course in Miracles, 1975 ]

145.

A grand larceny and a brutal murder required a grand konspiratsia, a conspiracy carried out with ruthlessness.

Exactly twenty months

after Eichmann's workshop

which hammered out a plan to destroy the Magyar Jews, conference was

at Linz, another

called to plan the destruction of Magyarland' s

independence and the extermination of her liberties. November 14, 1946 was a rainy day.

The complete apparat from

Moscow Center assembled in the conference room of the palace of the Gauleiter of Russia,

Marshal Kliment Voroshilov.

This had

been the home of the Schwarz family, and the "conference room" had been the ballroom where many a mulatas were held before the Nazi and Communist invasions. The gypsy music was now a death march composed by Moscow Center,

played by a quartet of drummers:

Marshal Voroshilov,

Lieutenant-General Sviridov, Colonel Pushkin and Lieutenant-Colonel Andropov. Kahana,

There was a quintet of second fiddlers:

Weinberger and Peter.

The

Roath, Singer,

quartet represented Moscow

Center; the quintet was the local apparat which, having received decades of training in subversion in Russia,

had been recently

imported back to Budapest.

All five were Jews and more anti-

semitic than the Russians.

The quintet came on their heels just

like Eichmann had on the heels of the Germans twenty months earlier. All were Soviet citizens. again,

The language spoken was Russian.

Once

outsiders were deciding the fate of the Magyars and the

Danube valley. "Good morning, discussion, nessed,"

comrades.

It was imperative to hold this

in view of the regrettable error we have just wit-

said Voroshilov in short,

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clipped accents contrasting

marketedly with the mellifluous words he had used during his last meeting with the representatives of the Union of Peasants and citizens.

More than two dozen decorations and medals glittered

from his collar down to his belt. task for it is he who

"We have taken Comrade Roath to

guilty of this grave miscalculation."

IIS o okin Sin,1I spat out Sviridov, "Son of a bitch!

The armed

German fascists crushed the power of the great land owners and capi talists, who were always hostile to the people," he growled. IIAnd this is the thanks we have received!" words with a hiss.

He spit out the last

Others glanced at General Sviridov with fear

during this sarcastic outburst.

Whereas outwardly, at least, the

marshal often played the part of the genial old soldier, Sviridov had only hard edges.

He had been in Russian intelligence for over

twenty years and become a ruthless executioner of MOscow's policies both inside and outside Russia. made up

for with a mailed fist.

What he lacked in finesse he

While Voroshilov handed out

smiles, his side-kick, the deputy chairman of the Allied Control Commission, was the knout. "Comrades," said Voroshilov, has

"the defeat on November fourth

reached the ears of the highest councils of state."

All

present were well aware of his close friendship with Stalin, the supreme overlord of Russia. had just referred to.

Thus, no one had any doubts who he

"We must come up with the correct plan ... "

" ... or there will be consequences!" said Sviridov, tightening his lips over his gums.

The local quintet trembled inwardly.

-3-

Roath mopped his forehead, Kahana and Singer adjusted their glasses, Weinberger shifted his body and Peter started to sweat.

Collec-

tively the five had waited nearly two hundred years to wreak their personal vengeance on the Magyars for having expelled the Communists in 1919.

Now,

when their hour of retribution was at hand, the

sweet fruit was about to be snatched from them. hundred thousand soldiers," continued Sviridov. ated the aristocracy, the kulaks. reactionaries. gave

"We have six "We have liquid-

We have undermined the bourgeois

We provided you with all the key positions.

you effective control through the National Committees of

every city and village and the police. unlons and the factory committees.

We handed over the trade

Yes, your collective responsi-

bility for the election failure is a heavy one! well that "consequences,

The quintet knew

the punishment for failure,

execution or, at best, banishment to a terrible gulag.

would be: A still-

ness hung in the air. "We have temporarily lulled the suspicions of the winners," the marshal broke in, "by talking to them about friendship between us

and their subversive party.

before the nailed fist. "0f course, announced Pushkin,

Thus,

we put the gloved hand

the nailed fist was

always

our preference,

the representative of R.U.M.D.,

gence arm of the ministry of foreign affairs.

the intelli-

"We had worked out

a plan to create a new protective belt of Soviet states around the mother Soviet a long time ago.

Now the victory of the Union of

Peasants and Citizens obliges us to make some tactical changes ln

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the basic plan.

But there will in no way be changes in our long

range strategy:

to make Magyarland a home for democracy, a Soviet

republic. II

Pushkin was obviously an intelligence operative of the

new school.

Whereas Voroshilov and Sviridov were rough-and-tumble,

unsophisticated, Pushkin was an oily, educated man of the world. He could speak five real languages, and guile was a sort of sixth. A dispenser of smooth lies and disinformation, a child of a thought system based on falsehood,

he was a perfect operative in the

Kremlin's scheme for world domination.

He was also the best-looking

man in the room. IIMoscow Center,lI said the chairman, IIhas demanded we come up wi th a revised plan.

It is absolutely mandatory, II he proceeded,

banging his fist on the well-polished table, order to the letter!

lito execute this

Is that understood, comrades?1I

IIYes, comrade marshal, II replied the quintet, immensely relieved that they were being given a second chance.

But what the

imported apparat did not know was that the other four had held a top-secret conference the previous night,

after Voroshilov had

called Moscow on his direct personal line to the Politburo.

had been decided then to keep the blundering quintet for the simple reason that there was no back-up team available. IIWe have asked comrade Lieutenant-Colonel Andropov to read the main points, II said Marshal Voroshilov.

lIyou are all familiar,

comrades, with the document, so he'll cover only the basic outline. II The lieutenant-colonel of state security, the rising star in the inner councils of the Russian secret police apparat, was the

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youngest of the Russian quartet.

He had the precise manner of an

accountant, and, in fact, he was the accountant for banishment and liquidation. glasses,

Behind his studious appearance and his glittering

there was warmth and even sensuality which he was now at

pains to conceal.

such warmth could degenerate into the hot zeal

of oppression and into fiery treachery - but it could also suffuse into understanding and even friendship and love of those who could be useful

to him.

There was cunning there too.

Again,

that

cunning was capable of developing into low, murderous intrigue or the sort of political finesse whereby great power is attained. Right now the young operative pulled his lips apart, a subconscious tactic for thinning out their sensual fullness.

He paused and

looked respectfully in the direction of Marshal Voroshilov.

The

document, prepared by the secretariat in 1940 and adopted by the Supreme Council a year later, specified a common ticket for all the parties in elections.

This was still to remain the objective,

there would be only a slight shift in the time table ... "Is that understood, comrades?" demanded Sviridov. "Yes,

comrade general,

replied the quintet in unison, not

daring to look him directly in the eye. "Then act accordingly!" the deputy chairman thundered. "The very first objective is the securing of the portfolio of the secretary of the interior ... " Andropov continued. "But we have already ... " Roath, the boss of the local Communist Party, stammered.

-6-

"No deviations Sviridov.

from the plan will be tolerated!

shouted

"In each of the new Socialist Republics we have secured

the ministry of the

interior

in Bulgaria,

Czechoslovakia,

Rumania, Yugoslavia ... " "Comrade Roath, no deviation in this country," said Pushkin ln a menacing tone. "Harasho,

Harasho,

"0K, OK comrades.

responded Roath with utmost servility.

liThe second step will be the dismemberment of the Union, Andropov proceeded, reading from a text in front of him. Peter, you'll find whatever discreditable you can. "Yes,

comrades," replied the police chief,

Comrade

a specialist ln

tortures, confessions and concentration camps. "Everyone has something to hide. invent something,

If you can't find anything,

continued Andropov.

liThe third step is to

eliminate all the leaders, most essentially, the religious leaders. "In the fourth step we demand two hundred million in pre-war U.S. dollars," announced Marshal Voroshilov. Magyar trade agreement.

" ... and a Soviet-

The fifth and final step is the elimina-

tion of the Social Democratic Party's subversive elements and the absorption of that party into the Communist Party. "You must,

of course,

follow the ideological line of the

Moscow Center; and you, comrade Kahana, will be responsible for the editorial and propaganda aspects. sary tools?" asked Pushkin.

Do you have all the neces-

"Yes, comrade colonel, we have, with the control over newsprint and all other paper and printing products," replied Moscow's bespectacled ideological copy-cat. "And you, comrade Singer, will assist comrade Roath with the attack, the division and the final liquidation of the Union of Peasants and citizens." "Yes, comrade Pushkin." "Permit me a suggestion," said Weinberger. the capital.

"I'm the mayor of

I believe that important position should continue to

be held by us, despite the municipal election results." "How do you propose to do it?" asked Sviridov, his eyes narrowing. "Get the present City Council, which we still control until the new council is seated, to nominate me to the title and position of Mayor of Budapest. 1/ "Is that possible?" asked Voroshilov slowly. "I f we proceed with confidence, we can intimidate the bourgeois reactionary parties," replied Weinberger. "We'll help you," replied the police chief, who had been put in power even before the Magyar government was organized. "On reparations," said Roath eagerly,

"comrade Singer and

myself can help." " . .. and on setting up j oint Soviet-Magyar industrial and commercial enterprises," added Weinberger. "You'll leave that to us!" said Pushkin with quiet emphasis, which carried greater authority than any shouted menace could have. -8-

"Yes, comrade Colonel Pushkin," replied the two immediately, barely able to hide their confusion over this latest rebuke. "And you,

comrade Peter," continued Pushkin,

"begin today

preparing individual zapiskas

(dossiers)

on all the congressmen

and councilmen of the Union,

and report to me with any useful

information immediately." "Of course, comrade!" replied the police chief. "Your first target will be Chabaffy," said Sviridov.

"We

have had a lot of misinformation about the state of his health." "All members of that family must be eliminated," said Pushkin. "Take careful preparations," Voroshilov warned him. family is highly regarded by the people. painstaking in the

documentation ...

zapiska ... a complete file.

"That

You must be thorough and

in the building up of a

We'll hold back for the present time

and strike at the opportune moment ... that Chabaffy has caused us enough loss of face already." "We are certain," added Sviridov, "he was behind the conspiracy against operation

'fusion ticket.'

He whipped up the Western

capi talist press against us." "Can we expect any further American interference?" Singer asked timidly, from no one in particular. Pushkin allowed himself him only smile of that meeting. "A spineless,

na1.ve,

stupid lot," he said with contempt.

"They have given us complete freedom to do what we want. " "Comrade Stalin keeps them and the British under his thumb," added Voroshilov with a sly grin and an expressive gesture.

-9-

Thus did nine men plan to drum Magyarland out of the ranks of independent nations. adopted.

The plan for the conspiratsia was unanimously

They spent the rest of the day on tactical discussions.

Toward evening, Voroshilov concluded,

"We must control the

ministry of the interior. II "Through it we control the police and the entire administrative machinery of the state,

added Sviridov.

"No deviations!" repeated Pushkin. land for a Socialist revolution!

"We have ripened Magyar-

"Comrade Roath!" said Voroshilov.

"You should have a chance

to repair the grave damage caused by the elections. responsible for carrying out that operation! II

I shall not fail,

You'll be

he replied with servile but determined

enthusiasm. "Get some vodka," shoulted the marshal, slapping his thighs. A silver tray full of glasses and bottles was immediately produced. "A toast to the Soviet Republic of Magyarland,

proposed

General Sviridov. liTo death with their opposition," echoed Pushkin. liTo the Soviet Republic of Magyarland! II repeated all nine. liTo our great leader,

the liberator of Europe:

Comrade

Marshal Stalin! II shouted Voroshilov, toasting his long-time friend. "Dadua!

he ordered, "Bottoms up!

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146.

On November 9th, the Union of Peasants and citizens held a meeting of the leadership of the party.

Some forty men assembled

in the meeting room of the National Casino, the country's exclusive men's club.

The building had survived the siege of Budapest

relatively unharmed.

The Reverend Tildy chaired the meeting,

assisted by Father Istvan.

The reverend, by virtue of his seniority,

had been nominated prime minister after the elections. the overwhelming choice of the congressmen had been Imre.

Actually But in

order to avoid a show-down with his colleague, who had assumed the leadership of the party by default when he was still in Dachau, Imre had agreed to become speaker of the house. post,

This was a key

because with it came the chairmanship of the three-man

Council of State, and the chairman was acting head of state pend1ng the election of the president of the Republic. Both Father Istvan and Imre knew that the Reverend Tildy was not only a hen-pecked husband but also a weak politician and no match for the imperial Marshal Voroshilov.

They had accepted this

temporary arrangement for the sake of intra-party peace.

Once the

reverend had been promoted to head of state, Father Istvan, Imre and Zoltan planned to form a powerful trio to rebuild the ravaged country and stem the tide of Russian colonization. "As you know, my friends," said Tildy in his opening remarks, "we are gathered here to discuss the formation of the cabinet after our victory at the polls.

We had already agreed before the

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election that the coalition government must continue.

A single

party administration is unthinkable in view of the numerous tasks facing us.

Now I have to tell you that the chairman of the Allied

Control Commission has informed me that we should not seek an absolute majority of the cabinet posts." A murmur of disapproval greeted this announcement. "We have won sixty percent of the popular vote," Zoltan fumed indignantly.

"Are we now proposing that we take only fifty percent?"

"If we take the majority of positions," replied the chairman, "we would be held accountable for every measure and all regulations the occupying power may impose on us. " Bela Kovacs,

a peasant deputy and undersecretary of the

interior in the provisional government, stood up: "Maj ori ty means responsibility.

I, for one, am willing to

take on the responsibility of government.

That is what the people

want. " "We would face the hostility not only of the left-wing parties but also of the occupying power," Tildy persisted. "During the elections," said the editor of the party's newspaper, "the occupying power behaved in a responsible manner." "Strictly hands-off," added Janos Parady, the party's nominee for the Treasury post. "As a matter of fact,

I have reason to believe," said Tildy

wearily, lighting another cigarette,

"the occupying power would

not approve the cabinet if we held the maj ori ty of the seats."

Indignation greeted this statement.

The discussion flowed

back and forth for another hour or more.

Finally it was agreed

that half of the cabinet seats were to be nominated by the Union and the rest divided among the three left-wing parties.

The

meeting then authorized the leadership of the Union to adopt this position at the upcoming inter-party conference to apportion the top government posts. Tildy was about to adjourn the meeting when Vincent Nagy, a former minister of the interior, asked to be heard. respected light at the gathering.

He was a

Many believed the merger of his

own party into the Union before the elections had helped the Union to nail down an absolute majority on the polls. "May I draw your attention, Mr. Chairman, to the very strong possibility that the Communists will request,

really, probably

demand, the portfolio of the interior ... " "Hear! Hear!" voiced several congressmen. "May I add:

I would be surprised if they would refrain from

threats and intimidation tactics to gain that end.

We all know

that the secretary of the interior is responsible for internal security.

He controls the police and the entire administrative

set-up of our nation. ever before.

That position is more important now than

Since our army was virtually destroyed during the

war, the police are the only effective armed force in the entire nation ... "

with the

exception of you-know-what ... "

Zoltan.

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interjected

"There is no question in my mind," concluded Congressman Vincent, "that we, the majority party, are fully entitled to the interior post!" Applause greeted this speech from all sides. "We have another reason not to yield that cabinet seat,1I said Imre, after the applause had died down.

"That reason is that we

have an eminently qualified man for the post.

He has helped us

more than any other single person in winning this election. the present undersecretary of the interior:

He is

Bela Kovacs!"

A thunderous applause reverberated throughout the room. "I can assure all of you,

responded the chairman, "that we

have not been pressured in this respect by the Communists in any way.

Bela Kovacs is our party's nominee for the interior post. " Tildy and Imre represented the Union at the inter-party

caucus the next day.

It all started rather peacefully.

The

cabinet positions were quickly allocated, the Union ending up with the posts of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Treasury, and the left with the ministries of Social Welfare, Commerce and Industry. The other less important posts were distributed with no difficulty either. The Radical Party,

an unimportant political force in the

polls and a subsidiary of the Communists, had thus far held the interior post.

Its spokesman was uncompromising.

"We held the post in the provisional government," he said, "and I see no reason why we should be deprived of it now. "

-14-

lilt is our claim,1I said the strongly left-wing new leader of the Socialists,

who had recently replaced Imre's staunch under-

ground colleague Peyer,

IIthat we

alone

can keep the Interior

Ministry neutral between the Union and the Communist Party. represent the center position between these two.

We could keep

the temperature low between two extremes. II Imre protested, ferred to as extreme.

III object that the Union 1S 1n any way reWe have received the majority of the votes.

We represent the broad cross-section of the nation, and therefore, we claim the Ministry of the Interior. II There was little the Communist boss could add except,

lithe

post has traditionally been held by our party, and I insist we get it. 1I Imre bristled at this argument.

The Communists had never

held this post, except for a few weeks during the Moscow-inspired Communist coup in 1919; nor had they held any other posts, never having received enough popular support to form an administration. Imre had an additional reason for fighting for the portfolio. police chief, Peter, was a Communist,

and he had already shown a

marked talent in transforming the police squad,

The

a colonial extension of the M.V.D.

into

Gestapo-like

After securing the

interior post, getting rid of Peter was Imre's first post-election priority. The caucus had to be adjourned to the next day, and the day after that. was

reached:

Finally on the thirteenth of November an agreement the Union was

given the

Communist Party the post of deputy. -15-

secretaryship,

and the

That night the union leadership had dinner at the Chabaffy townhouse on the citadel.

Juliska outdid herself.

Every guest

complimented the twins and Ian, who was happily sitting next to Father Istvan, swapping stories about their adventures during the Nazi occupation.

Bela Kovacs was the guest of honor.

liTo the first non-Communist Secretary of the Interior 1.n a Russian-occupied country, II Imre toasted. II A well-deserved honor for the courageous work you have done, II

added Father Bela,

IIboth as undersecretary and as the

co-chairman of the election campaign with our host Imre.

To the

future! II Early in the afternoon of the next day Tildy received a telephone call from the boss of the Communist Party. IIWe wish to have an inter-party conference at three o'clock, II he announced. the elections, tions.

These conferences had been held almost daily since and the Unionist agreed to it without any ques-

He immediately called Imre, and the two showed up exactly

at three at the meeting held in the Parliament Building. IIMay I speak first?1I said the Red leader smoothly.

IIWe must

demand a change in our agreement on the composition of the cabinet.

The Communist Party must receive the portfolio of the

Interior. II II That 's preposterous! II exclaimed Imre.

IIWe 've been through

that item over and over again in the last several days! II II I f we do not receive the Ministry of Interior, II said the Communist

boss

government. II

confidently,

IIwe

cannot

participate

the

"Absurd!" Tildy sputtered. "This is a most unusal procedure," said Imre, with suppressed fury.

"We agreed on the cabinet, and now you are saying you want

to break that agreement!"

He knew that if the Communist Party

withdrew from the government, the two other leftist parties would do likewise.

This would leave the Union to govern alone, a situa-

tion which the Russians would not approve.

According to the

Armistice Agreement, the cabinet needed Control Commission approval. Imre knew perfectly well that Marshal Voroshilov would veto a Unionist cabinet. "We demand an explanation for this unjustifiable obstruction," he continued after a long pause.

Tildy kept relighting his cigar-

ette and nervously drumming his fingers on the table. "We, the Communist Party, must be in the vanguard 1.n the fight against reactionary elements," was the reply.

"That is the

simple reason why we need the Ministry of the Interior.

I must

also add that, immediately after the elections, our members were subjected to terrorist attacks by Unionist crowds. protected.

We need to be

We are sorry that we are creating a disturbance in the

smooth flow of our discussions. adamant about our demand.

All the same, we are absolutely

We must have the Interior seat in the

cabinet. " "The Unionists,"

Imre retorted,

"have always been in the

vanguard in the fight against reaction, to use your expression.

also have to state quite categorically that if there were any terrorist attacks against Communists, they were obviously isolated

-17-

incidents," Imre insisted.

"Furthermore,

they are child's play

compared with the terrorism that has been conducted by the Communist Party against us. the Communists. II

We'd be happy to guarantee the safety of

But we must insist on standing by the agreement."

I'm afraid you have not understood my message clearly enough, II

countered the Red leader.

"Look around the Danube Valley.

You

will not find a single country where the Secretary of the Interior is not a Communist." The meeting was abruptly adjourned. The leaders of the Union convened for an emergency meeting. "If we don't give in," Imre announced, lithe leftist parties will go into opposition, approve.

which the occupying power would not

And if we surrender, we'd surrender the most important

frui t of our election victory. II cut with a knife.

The tension was thick enough to

Bela Kovacs, whose job was at stake, stood up

to address Imre and Tildy. liThe coalition government is at stake," he said.

"Are we

attempting to right every past wrong with a single cabinet position?

Let's not disrupt the formation of the government,

let's not contribute to a constitutional crisis.

and

I recommend we

give the portfolio to the Communist Party with the understanding that the Undersecretary in charge of the police must be one of us." The next day, the Budapest press reported the composition of the new cabinet. The Secretary of the Interior was a Communist by the name of Imre Nagy, who had been secretary of Agriculture in the Provisional Government. -18-

Ellen and her brother had talked with the American members of the Allied Control

Commission immediately before the Union's

emergency meeting. Imre hadn't minced any words: liThe Reds are double-crossing us!

After signing off an

agreement on the cabinet, they are trying to grab the most important cabinet post, that of the ... " II

Sorry

rupted.

Prince Chabaffy, II the American general had inter-

"We cannot possibly intervene in the internal affairs of

your country. II

147.

On November fifteenth, after the cabinet had been sworn in, Imre gave a luncheon at the townhouse for half a dozen of the top men of the Union.

The first to arrive were Father Istvan and

Tildy, the new prime minister, followed by Bela Kovacs.

Janos

Parady, the youngest cabinet member, the new man at the Treasury, came with Istvan, editor of the Union's daily paper.

When Zoltan,

habitually late, finally arrived, lunch was served. The twins were in a joyous mood. "Did you hear the latest?" asked Ian.

The guests thought he

was ready to launch into one of his celebrated jokes to cheer up Imre, who was still shell-shocked by the latest Russian manipulation.

-19-

"The British government has already recognized the new cabinet." "Voroshilov followed an hour later," said Father Istvan, laughing. "I hear," added Zol tan, "the Russians insisted the official records show that it was Russia which extended recognition first." Elma, who was sitting next to Janos, laughed with a kind of peeling laughter that Ian hadn't heard from her since Imre had told her about Andy's murder.

She had every reason to be happy: it was

her first day on the job as the secretary to the new minister of finance. The general laughter that followed was interrupted by Ellen. "From the rumor I heard at city hall, I'd say that is no laughing matter."

Everyone became silent.

"The Communists are playing games again.

Their next play is

to prevent our man from becoming mayor, so Weinberger can keep his job. " "That's preposterous!"

"It's an outrage!"

"Impossible!" and

similar exclamations peppered the air. "The old city council dominated by the left," Ellen continued, II

is playing to give Weinberger a one-year contract as mayor! "Absolutely illegal!"

prohibits such practice! II

"Not permissible!"

"The city charter

Everyone was talking at once.

"We'll take care of that this afternoon!1I Imre said pointedly and, putting his right index finger to his lips, indicated to his sister to drop the subject.

After the guests had departed, the

pair held a hurried conference with Ian.

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"Ellen," said Imre, "please go to see Howard immediately. II "Tomorrow morning?" "Right now.

We can't waste a moment."

Howard was the deputy

of the American general who had so unceremoniously greeted Ellen and Imre a few days before.

It was no secret that Ellen had been

seeing Howard, an up-and-coming lieutenant colonel from Virginia. He was on the general staff, and he spoke tolerable Magyar.

His

mother was a Magyar countess, the daughter of the pre-war ambassador to Washington; she was expected to arrive from the united states any day. "And you I an, it's time you see your friends again. II Imre prodded Ian to establish good relations with the British on the Allied Control Commission.

The Chabaffys needed all the

help that could be mustered to prevent this latest Communist ploy. It was fortunate indeed that Imre acted quickly.

Howard

contacted Pushkin that same afternoon and spoke to him with indignation.

The Russian official claimed ignorance and said he would

"investigate. II No more was heard about the attempted Red coup at City Hall, but Imre was caught in a deepening gloom. formidable nature of his adversaries.

He began to realize the

The Russians had barely had

time to recover from their election fiasco, and they were on the war path already.

First it had been the caper involving the most

important cabinet post, and now, only a few days after, it was the mayor of the capital.

Are we ever going to have any rest? he

wondered.

-21-

Ian was unable to contact the head of the British mission, who was in Vienna for a few days.

In the latter's absence, he was

seen by a consular official who remarked that Ian had no business staying in Magyarland. For reasons he couldn't quite understand, that remark had a sobering effect on Ian.

It forced him to look at himself and

examine what the future held.

On his return to Magyarland, he had

found a plucky country involved in a spirited election campaign. He had plunged into it whole-heartedly, and for a few weeks his private sorrows had left him.

He had felt invigorated by the

friends of his family who had given him their love in his uphill battle to regain his health.

He had forgotten the doctors' ver-

dict about his short life expectancy; and, as a result, his chances of recovery had improved dramatically.

Just before the elections,

he had signed up for some courses at the School of Economics, in preparation for getting a business degree and some competence in finance.

That was as far as he had gone about thinking ahead.

Now a sort of post-election depression had hit Ian.

He was

chewing at all the negatives in his life, and he was unable to spit them out of his system. his baldness.

His health bothered him, along with

He was on the verge of believing that he had lost

all sexual attraction.

Maria and Tonus were the most insistent

ghosts. He realized Tonus had been a mistake,

a beautiful mistake

which had helped him to regain his sanity after the privations of captivity and his multiple illnesses.

Maria was different.

was quite unable to keep her out of his mind.

When his relations

with Tonus had been severed, he had begun to think more and more about Maria.

Her beauty, her courage, her body, and her smile

were memories he couldn't shake. like a toothache.

Her loss nagged him persistently

He couldn't accept the fact that he had lost

her when he had decided to return to Budapest, so long, so very long ago. Finances chewed at Ian. too.

One of the Provisional Govern-

ment's first acts immediately after the defeat of the Germans had been a land distribution measure which divided all estates into small plots.

A special provision of the law allowed heroes of the

resistance to keep up to five hundred acres.

This had helped

Atilla to save some of the Tollays' ancestral lands, but it had not helped Ian who, as a legal foreigner, was not included in the exemption.

As for Butnok, he had been promised some compensation,

all to be paid 1n almost worthless government bonds over a long period of time.

Imre and the twins were even worse off, as zsibo

in Transylvania came under foreign rule and was immediately confiscated.

All that remained of those holdings were a few valua-

bles Jeno had saved.

He arrived unexpectedly soon after the

siege, with a cartload from Zsibo. The only income the Chabaffys could count on was Imre's salary as Speaker of the House, which was pitifully small in relation to his obligations. course, Ellen helped. money -

Although, of

Ian had never given a second thought to

it had always been there.

that his sister provided him with. was right. -23-

Now he lived on an allowance Somehow he didn't feel that

Even his personal belongings were a source of void.

One of

the bombs which had hit the townhouse had destroyed much of his room and almost all of his treasured possessions: the csok painting the old prince had given him,

a porcelain likeness of the

Saviour, his record collection and his clothing.

He found his old

Bible and a few other books and even fewer photographs, but nothing about Maria, Zsibo or Butnok. Imre was in his thoughts, too.

Whenever he saw the beloved

face, he felt guilty for having betrayed him, for falling pitifully short of the standard which, in Ian's view, his brother exemplified. Most of all he was depressed about the Russians.

He, more

than anyone else in the family, had lost all illusions about peaceful cooperation and friendship with them.

The experiences of

captivity had cut into him deeply, and no amount of euphoria over the election victory could dispel his forebodings.

He had partic-

ipated in the election campaign almost as a lark - it had been fun to beat the Russians, outfox their local stooges.

Behind it all

was the terrible foreknowledge that life was lived on borrowed freedom.

Under Hitler's tyranny Ian had always known in his bones

that the disaster would be over soon.

What about the Russians?

The Americans were not about to keep them at bay.

He had known

this well before most other people had. Then Ian remembered his vision and miraculous escape.

The

light of illumination was still shining in his soul, but now the veil of sadness kept it hidden from his view.

-24-

He wished he didn't

have the gift of foresight, the power of intuition, the sensibility of a poet.

They cried about oppression,

slavery and national

tragedy. Ian's nightmares returned in terrifying proportions, the old monsters reincarnated in greater magnificence and perverse pomp than ever.

He had dreams of falling,

dreams of unrelieved pain,

dreams of torture and the pains of fever and festering wounds. Dreams of loneliness ln deserted places and phantasmagoric palaces. Again and again he relived Maria's embraces and Tonus' kisses. He dreamed up new dream women to kiss and embrace. fantasies,

Only wilder

ever more exotic imaginings, would satisfy the monster

of his sexual longings.

Sex, gentle, tender, giving, understanding,

loving sex became a monster too, which only orgies of masturbation would tame - temporarily.

When he awoke from these illusions, Ian

realized his precious life force was oozing away.

Often that

realization beget further self-destructive illusions and suicidal fantasies. rose

He hid under his down cover for hours.

his

lips,

with

increasing

fervor

and

Slowly prayer life-renewing

insistence. "Lord!

What did you save me for?"

148.

"Nyet!1I barked the member of the Politburo, Russia's highest governmental

council.

Deputy prime minister Anastas Mikoyan,

-25-

economic boss, had been one of Stalin's closest collaborators for more than twenty years. He spat the "No" to Janos Parady, Magyarland' s Minister of Finance,

a year after the elections.

handsome man in his early forties. Elma, who was sitting to his left.

Parady was a tall,

spare,

He looked despairingly at She gave her boss, to whom she

had become secretly engaged a week earlier, an encouraging smile. The Magyar was negotiating with the Armenian about Russia's fraudulent two hundred million dollar claim against Magyarland. They were in Mikoyan's office, which looked like a gigantic gilded cage,

measuring nearly two hundred meters long and fifty meters

wide.

The place vaguely reminded Elma of the Doge's Palace in

Venice grafted into the manege in Vienna where the Lippiczaner horses are trained - what it lacked in authenticity it made up for ln the effect it created, that of oversize opera-scenery. Elma glanced over at Mikoyan, who looked to her like a Magyar gypsy,

yes,

moustache.

like Jeno of Zsibo.

In particular,

But he lacked his ready smile:

he had Jeno' s

he was dour and dark

and devious. He looked squarely into Janos' eyes. more explained the Magyar position. the

unperturbed, he once

Janos spoke in Magyar, which

interpreter translated into Russian.

Mikoyan answered in

Russian, which was then translated into Magyar. Ironically, once again the Schwarz industrial complex was the main topic of discussion.

-26-

liAs I explained before," said Janos launching into his fourth dissertation on the subject, owned.

lithe Schwarz complex was privately

During the war, Hitler realized that the Danube Valley was

a much safer place to build war planes than the Ruhr Valley.

The

Messerschmidt works entered into an agreement with the Schwarz family to mass produce German fighter planes at their plant.

speed up the process, the Germans lent the Schwarzes six hundred million marks to establish a new factory to build those planes for their exclusive use, a sum worth about two hundred million in u.S. dollars then. "When the Germans invaded Magyarland,

Janos continued, "they

confiscated the property from the Schwarzes and continued to work it for the Germans, of course. Mikoyan,

When your armies, Comrade General

entered my country, the Germans fled,

the entire contents of the factory.

taking with them

What buildings the Allied

bombers didn't damage, the Nazis destroyed during their retreat.

Even Mikoyan, the tireless negotiator, was beginning to feel his eyelids droop.

It was two hours past midnight.

Elma, overly

familiar with the story, kept studying the huge map covering much of the wall behind the desk of the Soviet Politburo member.

showed the Eurasian land mass spreading down from the North Pole. Most of the map was covered by the Soviet Union, which stretched in a

massive

sweep

from

the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.

Western Europe on the western end of the Red Empire didn't look any bigger than Rhode Island on a map of the united States. united States itself,

The

on the eastern end of the map along the

-27-

shores of the Pacific, thought Elma.

was like an insignificant principality,

My country occupies less space than a fly on this

map. then came the Potsdam Agreement between the Americans,

the British and yourselves,

Janos continued relentlessly.

stipulated, as we all know, that all German assets in the areas occupied by you were to be transferred to the soviet Union. II This time Ellen noted that Janos omitted to mention that the very same agreement also waived any rights the Magyars and other Danube Valley nations had against the Germans. IIThus we are discussing a privately owned Magyar company, confiscated by the Germans whose debts you, Comrade General Mikoyan, consider a Russian 'asset' - a debt which was owned by a Magyar family no longer living in Magyarland. the Germans.

The plant was gutted by

Its assets are physically in Germany,

liabilities in Magyarland.

and only its

I/Now you've presented us with a bill for two hundred million u.s. dollars,

the equivalent of six hundred million pre-inflation

marks for these non-existent German 'assets'

While the interpreter translated Janos' speech for the fourth time,

the Magyars looked at the Russian delegation with closer

scrutiny.

Mikoyan was nearest to the group, well forward.

deputies flanked him on both sides, several paces back.

His

Behind

these the rest of the staff was arranged in a semi-circle, like a high school choir about to slng. the negotiating.

-28-

But it was Mikoyan who did all

"We are,

according to the Potsdam Agreement," stone-walled

the member of the Politburo, "successors to the Germans as creditors."

He continued slowly, his moustache bristling and his dark

eyes flashing.

"The only question is how much you shall pay and

under what terms!" He noticed that Janos was about to answer when the interpreter finished the translation of his outburst, but the leader continued rapidly. "During the last war the Fascist aggressors devastated seventeen hundred cities and seventy-one thousand villages, causing the loss of twenty-five million homes.

Believe me, we can use every

bi t of reparations we can get. II Janos felt the time had come to pullout his ace. "The mixed Soviet-Magyar companl.es owe us one hundred and fifty million in back taxes." The meeting was abruptly adjourned. A month later the negotations were still going on. end,

the Russians

agreed to the Magyar counterclaim,

In the and the

fictitious debt was reduced to fifty million after another gruelling horse-trading session lasting well past midnight. Yet another long session was devoted to negotiating how the remaining fifty million was going to be paid. "We'll take one hundred locomotives worth five million to begin with," announced the Red comnll.ssar. "They are worth five million and fifty thousand," Janos.

exclaimed

To his astonishment, Mikoyan insisted on his own figure.

-29-

"Your excellency," Janos persisted,

"the difference between

your figure and mine is a paltry fifty thousand.

Such a minuscule

amount is nothing to a wealthy country like yours.

It would be a

generous gesture on your part if you allowed us, a small country, that extra sum for our locomotives." "Gospodin Ministr, "

replied Mikoyan,

official title of Minister of Finance, this,

referring to

Janos'

"however much I

regret

I must insist on the lower amount.

The Soviet Union was

stripped so bare during the war that we simply have to save every cent we can."

Janos was stunned by this admission of weakness.

He soon found out the Kremlin's true motives as his negotiating adversary continued: "I consider it quite unacceptable that some of our neighbors," and his eyes travelled back and forth between Janos and Elma, "that some of our neighbors have a better life than the people of my country who have sacrificed so much during the great patriotic war against the Fascist dogs." Janos

nodded his

assent.

After

all,

had reduced the

Russian claim to one quarter of its original size. him again.

Elma smiled at

He felt that every bit of the all-night haggling had

been worth that smile. A few days later the Magyars were called back to Mikoyan's palatial offices to sign the draft agreement. "Fist of all," he greeted Janos and smile,

"we must have a little party."

Ellen with a broad

They looked at each other,

wondering if the Red cabinet minister knew about their marriage

-30-

plans.

Wasn't their engagement a secret?

Did the M.V.D.

have

more hidden microphones in their respective hotel rooms than they thought?

In a flash Janos made a decision.

"0ur thanks to Your Excellency, most appropriate,

he said.

"That would be

as we are planning to get married.

Did the

Russian Gestapo have mikes in the park benches and the trees of Gorki Park where Janos had proposed to Ellen? "That,

Gospodin Ministr,

calls

for

grand celebration!

shouted Mikoyan, without showing the slightest Slgn of surprise. A shark-like smile spread over the Red's swarthy face. The happy couple was plied with drinks for an hour. longer the toasts lasted,

The

the more convinced Janos became that

Mikoyan was anxious to get him drunk.

He poured much of the vodka

into the vases of flowers and once spilled a drink deliberately. Janos became even more alert when the Russian, with feigned drunkenness, lurched toward him:

liThe time has come to talk about how

your country should settle the balance of the forty-five million. II Janos tossed away his glass,

listening intently to the Russian's

fake slur. "I have a very simple plan," he proceeded, "which I have just thought up in honor of your engagement.

This plan of mine would

also remove all burdens from your Treasury.

Janos looked with

mounting interest at the interpreter. "All you have to do,

continued Mikoyan,

is transfer one-

half of the Schwarz industrial complexes to Soviet ownership. We'll

operate

it as

j oint Soviet-Magyar enterprise for the

-31-

benefi t

of our peoples ... II

emphasis,

After pauslng briefly, he added with

and as a wedding present to you, we'll forget all

about the locomotives and any other German assets.

Tension became thick in the cavernous room. wi th indignation that under present,

the guise

Janos realized

of offering a

"we dding

the wily and quite sober Russian was making a grand

economic power play.

The Schwarz industrial complex had been

completely rebuilt since the war by the

efforts

of tens

thousands of workers. It had once again become the Danube Valley's largest and most efficient production facility.

As the Gestapo

had before, Moscow was trying to grab the industrial heartland of Magyarland in exchange for giving up a phony claim and, moreover, in the guise of a nuptial gift. "Nyet!

shouted Janos in the tradition set by Marshal Voroshilov.

The party was abruptly over.

On their way back to the Hotel

Moskva, Elma was nearly in tears: "I was so much looking forward to getting married in Budapest later this month.

"When he gave us that preposterous proposal, Janos, home.

whispered back

"I realized he was counting on our eagerness to get back

"1'11 back you all the way," said Elma, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

-32-

149.

Brigadier Robert Graham, M.C., looked at Ian affectionately. "S 0 you're Douglas' son," he said, motioning his visitor to si t

down.

"Douglas and I go back a long way ... did you know

that? II "Father didn't talk much about the war, II said Ian embarrassed. It was true that he knew precious little about his father's military career. IIWe go back to 1917, to the second war.

Your father volun-

teered to parachute behind the Turkish lines, during the Gallipoli campaign.

He got a hand grenade lobbed at him, which nearly tore

him apart.

From that he got the Distinguished Service Order.

was transferred to the general staff and a desk job after being declared unfit for service in the field.

That's where we met, at

the War House in London. II The brigadier paused for a moment and looked kindly at Ian. IIWhat are you up to young man?1I Ian was uncertain what to answer.

Noting his hesitation, the

chief deputy to the general commanding the British element of the Allied Control Commission in Magyarland continued: II I an,

I asked you to come here for a definite purpose.

know, of course, you wanted to see me to get some help on that blackmail job the Russkies are doing on the Magyar delegation in Moskow.

By the way, II he said,

lighting his pipe laboriously,

creating a long pause, II we have found a solution ... II

-33-

"You have?1I Ian interrupted him excitedly. "More about that later, my son, II said Graham, puffing on his pipe.

After another long pause he turned back to his own concern.

IIyou may not like to hear this, but it is my duty to tell you. His Majesty's government can no longer assume any responsibility for your safety ... II IIThat I s what someone on your staff told me the other day, II exclaimed Ian.

IIBut why?1I

111'11 give it to you straight: this is Russki territory. II

IIWe are in Magyarland! II replied Ian vehemently. liDo you know anything about Yalta and Potsdam?1I liVery little. II IIThis 1.S strictly off the record. handed the

political

control

over

In a nutshell, Yalta

the Danube Valley to the

Russkies ... also Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe ... In Potsdam the Russkis got the economic control. II III don't understand ... 11 said Ian incredUlously, yet knowing his worst forebodings were about to be confirmed. IIWhen Churchill and Roosevelt met with Stalin 1.n Yalta in February last year, II said the brigadier, II in effect they handed over this part of the world to the Russians.

Then earlier this

year, Churchill, Truman and Stalin met in Potsdam.

There was talk

about independence and free elections and also an agreement on war reparations: the Russkies were given control over German assets 1.n the East in exchange for giving up claims against German assets in the West.

-34-

"We are lost," said Ian sadly. "And you are in double jeopardy, I an," the brigadier continued. "You are British, and you are also part of the Chabaffy clan.

have it on good authority that the Russkies are after the Chabaffys' blood.

Please consider the only advice I can give you: get out! "

"I don't wish to leave." The brigadier fired his heaviest artillery next. "Prince Tibor Chabaffy completely agrees with us.

It is his

advice too that you all leave Magyarland before it's too late." "I'd like to stay at least until Elma's wedding," said Ian after a long pause. his pipe.

The British officer took another puff out of

"We expect it'll be held here later this month." added

Ian. "Don't delay your departure too much longer," Graham warned him.

"I can fly you out to London now, but I don't know if I can

do that next month. " "What about your solution to the Moscow hold-up?" asked Ian, anxious to change the subject. "Please come back tomorrow with your brother, and my American colleagues will be ready with some splendid news for you.

They

have discovered a loophole in the Potsdam Agreement, big enough to drive a truck through." Full showed up

of hopeful

expectations,

next morning.

the

two

brothers

The American general

Howard greeted them with big smiles. antries, Imre came right to the point.

-35-

dutifully

and his deputy

After exchanging some pleas-

"We understand you have some good news for us." "Were you aware of the fact that Germany owed Magyarland two billion dollars?" asked the American general. "Two billion?" replied Ian. "Don't you see, you two?

"More than I realized!"

The Russkies have taken on Germany's

claim as a creditor and have been demanding you come up with six hundred million -- the equivalent of about two hundred million American dollars -- that Magyarland owed Germany.

But on the

other side of the ledger, Germany owes Magyarland two billion marks." The American officer concluded with another happy smile: "What you have to do is very simple and straight-forward: deduct the six hundred million from the two billion and demand from the Russkies the balance of fourteen hundred million." Seeing Imre's face change from expectation to disappointment, he quickly added: "Elementary ... Don't you see?" "I don't see at all!" replied Imre with rising hurt in his VOlce.

"Did you overlook paragraph thirty-four of the Magyar

peace treaty, which stipulates we cancel all our claims against Germany?

Surely you must be aware of the fact that it was the

Americans who were responsible for the waiver!

Are you telling us

now to demand two billion, contrary to everything that is in that paragraph thirty-four?" The two officers were dumbfounded. in silence.

They looked at each other

The general's face visibly reddened, and his deputy

cleared his throat. -36-

"We really appreciate your good intentions, rapidly,

Imre proceeded

alternating between indignation and sorrow.

"with the

best of good will, your country introduced that fateful paragraph into our peace treaty for the purpose of limiting Germany's debts and reparations.

You wished to avoid the error of the peace

treaties following the previous war,

which put such a crushing

burden of reparations on the German economy.

We all know that

burden helped Hi tIer's rlse to power ... II The colonel enveloped himself in a cloud of cigarette smoke. Imre went on vehemently: II

and where did that leave us poor Magyars?

The Potsdam

Agreement stipulated that the Russians inherit all the German assets in Magyarland.

Then you came along and stripped us down to

our underpants and left us completely defenseless by voiding our own assets, our own counterclaims against Germany.

Imre decided it was time to put aside all diplomatic niceties. liThe Nazis retreating from my homeland laid it to waste and took with them whatever they could lay their hands on. absolutely defenseless. is left.

Now the Russians are ready to grab whatever

We are once again totally defenseless.

as our remaining hope.

We were

We look to you

Helping us, you also help yourselves.

what do you come up with when we need you most? based on a fictitious assumption!

And

Useless advice

Ian finally realized the soundness of the brigadier's personal advice the previous day.

-37-

Help for Janos and Elma,

sitting in Moscow,

came from an

unexpected quarter: the workers of the Schwarz complex who threatened to revolt when Imre's people explained their new masters were going to be the Russians. discussed.

A general strike was being widely

It was already known to labor that the wages and

benefits in the so-called joint Russian-Magyar companies, which were in effect directed from Moscow, were much lower than those in similar Magyar enterprises.

They would have none of that.

pressure exerted on the Union leadership was enormous.

The

The Com-

munist Party was quick to realize the ground swell of public opinion was running against it.

Thus,

ironically, the Communist

.leaders were beginning to lobby against the Kremlin's extortion. Janos was able to settle the Russian claim with Mikoyan for two hundred million, by agreeing to deliver one hundred locomotives, tons of tobacco and supplies of jam.

The balance of twenty

million dollars was to be paid with services to the occupation troops, all to be spent within Magyarland over a five-year period. Janos was not happy to pay the Russians anything on a fraudulent claim.

However,

under the circumstances,

he felt that to have

negotiated down the ransom ten cents on the dollar was quite an achievement. The real bonus came when his and Elma's plane landed at the Budapest air field. greet them.

Imre and Ian, along with Ellen, were there to

The air field was under Russian control,

wartime damage was still evident. phone booth purloined from the

and the

The control tower was a telestreets

of the capital.

Even

Janos' ministry's custom inspectors had been replaced by Russians. -38-

But nothing could dampen the Chabaffys' joy 1n welcoming back Elma and her fiance. The media made much out of the wedding, which was held ten days later.

Here was a young cabinet minister with a seat in a

government in which Communists participated married to the flower of an ancient noble clan.

For a moment it was possible to forget

the rapacious Russians, the bumbling Americans and the traitorous local reds, and to bury the memories of the siege. Elma and Janos went on a short honeymoon to switzerland the day after the wedding.

A few hours later Ian boarded the brigadier 's

plane bound for London.

150.

The scenario laid down by the conspiratsia at Marshal Voroshilov's Budapest palace was being executed relentlessly and with Asiatic brutality. The Magyars

fought back with their legendary bravery and

tenacious ingenuity.

Eleven hundred years in the Danube Valley

had toughened the fiber of the Magyar national consciousness and flexed the

sinews

of their

survival

instincts.

As a result,

Magyarland resisted the Russian colonization two years longer than their neighbors Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Bulgaria. America was going to help, mankind.

America,

the great promise of

The English, with greater experience in European affairs,

-39-

would find a way to outfox the Kremlin's power plays.

Surely the

French, the Italians, the other Western Europeans .... The Magyars began to realize that the rest of mankind was busying itself with its own concerns, and the survival of a small country in the center of Europe was not high on anyone else's list of priori ties. If the boa constrictor was gradually,

going to swallow the Magyars

let i t be an unwholesome meal,

the giant snake's menu.

a poisonous course on

Let it be an example to the world that

even the most voracious monster could suffer severe indigestion. Could i t possibly even burst apart in the overambitious labor? The Magyars'

determination spurred the Russians to excell

their own standards of perfidy and break their own records in cunning and colonizing efficiency.

An article of faith blossomed

in Magyarland that the extra effort was eventually going to destroy the destroyer. The Russian colonization started gently enough.

Like the

upward sweep of a compound interest curve, it had a slow climb at first,

then

accelerated with ever

increasing ascendency.

The

first item on the agenda of the konspiratsia was to gain control over the police and the administrative machinery of the country by securing the Ministry of the Interior.

That was speedily achieved

with a mixture of blackmail and brute threats. The next item was to eliminate all the opposition leaders. The foremost was, of course, Tibor Chabaffy,

and he had already

been barred, in the earliest days of the occupation, from return-

-40-

ing from America.

Pushkin, the suavest of diplomats, was the most

astute intelligence officer.

During the early months he spent in

Magyarland he closely questioned everyone he came in contact with about Magyar politicians and public figures.

He soon built up a

detailed Kapiska on all the leaders, carefully probing for weaknesses and embarassing secrets.

Dangling Voroshilov's power to

veto any appointments, he soon had the weak and corrupt promoted to being Moscow puppets and the strong and incorruptible vetoed and hunted out of the country. No method was too base, no idea too devious or far-fetched to pursue.

Where pressure failed, blackmail was used.

means were insufficient, illegality was used.

Where legal

Where honeyed words

fell on deaf ears and bribery on ungrateful recipients,

brute

force, arrest, imprisonment and murder were practiced routinely. As the Americans and British pursued indecent appeasement, the

Russians

became

emboldened

and

accelerated

the

pace

colonization. After Chabaffy was pronounced unfit to assume the presidency of the country,

the Russians favored the Reverend Tildy, whose

manifold weaknesses konspiratsia.

fitted

Ambi tious

right into

and weak,

the

framework

of their

vain and burdened with the

liabilities of his family members' problems, he helped the Russians in the

door.

Then followed others who,

as presidents,

prime

ministers and high dignitaries, played their appointed parts in the konspiratsia with increasing willingness and servility.

-41-

Imre was left for last.

His liquidation was to put the final

seal of approval on the process of colonization.

Meanwhile, the

religious leaders were not being neglected either.

The prince-

primate of the Roman Catholics, Cardinal Mindszenty, earned the lasting enmity of the Kremlin and their stooges when his New Year message in 1946 denounced terrorism.

Soon a web of lies and false

witness was spun around his reputation, and before long the great patriot was arrested and hauled into court - for treason. The next item was the dismemberment of the Union of Peasants and citizens.

First, whole factions of the party were split off.

This melted away the commanding majority of the party in Parliament and lowered their esteem in the eyes of the voters.

The

operation went hand in hand with the process of eliminating the leadership. Under these circumstances, it was a miracle that people had the courage to form new parties, disgusted as they were with the increasingly

subservient

courageous were

leadership

Istvan Barankovich,

the Union.

Among the

Imre' s boss at the Magyar

Nation a few years earlier, and Zoltan.

Both organized new oppo-

sition parties to fight the spread of Russianization. A collateral goal of the konspiratsia was the economlC enslavement of Magyarland.

A mixture of reparations, joint Russian-

Magyar companies, mutual aid pacts, extortionate trade agreements, seizure assets, tions

of II

desirable

enterprises

nationalization decrees,

and

seizing

the

country's

-42-

falsely

labelled as

"German

looting of financial insti tubanknote-printing

equipment,

neatly accomplished that objective.

Janos could retard, but not

stem, the tide of economic exploitation. The elimination of the Socialists who enjoyed the loyalty of the workers, start.

the last item on the konspiratsia,

had an early

The trusted leadership was silenced or eliminated,

Moscow's stooges,

and

the betrayers of the working people, were In-

stalled in positions of power and influence.

At the right moment,

the party was conveniently merged into the Communist Party under the new name of Magyar Workers Party.

That party was in turn

merged with all the others, under the even more mendacious title of Independent People's Front. On November 4, 1947, exactly one year after the first Moscow konspiratsia,

the nine agents of the Kremlin gathered for another

meeting in the palace of Marshal Voroshilov. It was a farewell gathering for the marshal, who was returnlng to Mother Russia covered with new glories for his happy accomplishments.

True,

the Magyar peace treaty could no longer be

delayed, and the elections held two months earlier had been another disaster:

the Union,

along with its affiliates and Istvan and

Zoltan's offshoot party had again received over fifty percent of the votes,

despite frauds committed by the Communists.

other report was a triumph. out,

The Budapest mayor had been hunted

Father Istvan had had to flee the country,

Kovacs,

But every

general secretary of the Union,

and then Bela

had been arrested and

charged with conspiracy against the state.

A new three-year plan

to harness the Magyar economy to the war preparations of Russia

-43-

had been launched, labor tribunals established, the middle class ruined by the worst inflation anywhere in the world, and the banks nationalized. One last report had to be heard. Voroshilov barked: "Are you ready?" The question had been directed to the chief of the Budapest affiliate of the Russian secret police. Peter obediently launched into his report in which "reason," "espionage," "plotting to overthrow the government" and "currency speculation" were frequently themes.

Along with Imre I s

name,

Ellen I s was often on his lips, coupled with phrases like "attempting to corrupt Soviet officers" and" foreign exchange illegalities." The next day Imre was leaving the debating chamber in the Parliament building.

He had given a major speech denouncing the

unconstitutional activities of the government and attacking the proposed law authorizing it to rule by decree.

This, he had said,

was the last nail in the coffin of Magyar independence. Imre knew he was bordering on foolhardiness with his passionate defense of Magyar freedom.

In the past twelve months, parliamen-

tary immunity had been frequently violated by the occupying power. But the simple fact was that no one else remained to speak up.

was determined to go on record against the colonization of his homeland.

Would the Russians dare to touch the Speaker of the

House?

-44-

Imre started to walk along the long corridor leading to the members'

diningroom.

Suddenly he felt the weight of two hands

pressing on his shoulders.

There was a man on each side of him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX SCHOENBRUNN PALACE

[ "We reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage, and good Conduct, do by these Presents Constitute and Appoint you an officer in Our Land Forces ... \I Text of a royal commission, signed by George the sixth, King of Great Britain. ]

151.

Regimental Sergeant Major Swindon was proud of his accomplishment.

He could pour out a string of expletives lasting one hundred

and eighty seconds, never once repeating himself and spitting out the words in a rush perfected through continued practice lasting twenty-two years. Ian was amazed not only at the achievement itself, but also at the fact that such astounding ingenuity was restricted to the field of obscenities and to the art of brow-beating a body of cadets.

He stood absolutely motionless on the parade ground of

Eaton Hall, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Westminster, now the Officer Cadet School. He didn't dare to look at the ramrod

rigid figure of the warrant officer in the Scots Guards addressing an unfortunate cadet whose boot caps hadn't attained the mirrorlike qualitY,required at the 5 a.m. parade. He wanted to smile, but suppressed such a rash instinctive response.

During the gruelling twelve-week course, Ian had often

wondered what he was doing being yelled at by illiterates and chased by fanatics, while performing the most menial and senseless duties.

He had been dropped from great heights,

awakened well

before the crack of dawn and hauled through disciplines which did not seem to have the slightest bearing on his future duties. other parts of the demanding training had caught his fancy, however.

Ian's favorite exercise had turned out to be the twenty-

five kilometer cross-country run in battle dress, machine-gun on his back.

with a light

When he had managed to shoot out into

the lead right after the start, he had usually kept it.

In all

events, he had managed to finish among the first half-dozen or so. He had boxed, played hockey and soccer, wrestled, shot at long and close range with awesome accuracy and learned to keep his weapons and record clean to Regimental Sergeant Major Swindon's satisfaction. Ian had completed his training with excellent but nor remarkable grades, and the War office in London had allocated him to the Royal Scots Greys.

This was Scotland's senior regiment, equipped

with heavy Cromwell tanks powered by mighty Rolls Royce engines. It had been his father's and grandfather's unit. Posted to Germany, people of his own set.

he was pleased to find himself among The regimental commander was the best

horseman in the Army, and he was soon to prove his horsemanship to the world at large by winning a gold medal at the Helsinki Olympics. The home of the Greys was kept in immaculate condition by the personnel of a German cavalry regiment.

It had surrendered as a

cohesive unit to Montgomery's famed Desert Rats division, along with several hundred of the best mounts Germany could boast. Ian's agreeable routine of horseback riding, parades to the strain of bagpipes, field exercises with the fifty-ton monsters along the Elba river within sight of the Red Army's westernmost outposts, regimental dinners attended in the magnificent uniforms, was interrupted within a few months. gence headquarters in Vienna.

He was seconded to intelli-

Someone must have noticed his IQ

score of nearly one hundred and ninety and his fluency in five languages.

Thus he found himself doing what in military jargon

was referred to as extra-regimental duties. in the Greys.

This was quite common

In fact, nearly half the officers served in various

such capacities allover the world - one was equerry to the Sovereign, another served in the embassy in Paris, yet another had been one of his instructors at cadet school. This all happened after Ian had become acquainted with the unwritten code of the British Army,

the "old boys network.

According to it, a lieutenant might rank immeasurably higher than a colonel as long as he belonged to that network.

What was needed

for success in the service was not exertion, not courage, certainly not superior brain power, and most certainly not work: what was needed was knowing how to get along with the dispensers of awards,

-48-

plum jobs and promotions who, of course, belonged to the old boys network. Thus sponsors, swim.

Ian found himself in a hierarchy which still required but his father had believed in letting him

For

Ian,

s ink or

who had been groomed for success from early

childhood, this network came as quite a revelation.

Many of the

officers had made good in the war by playing to the hilt the games prescribed.

Many had come from humble circumstances and thus had

a commanding inferiority complex.

Generally, he found, those who

had remained after the war hung grimly on to their proconsular positions because they knew they would be unable to get comparable jobs in the civilian economy.

At the same time, they were devotees

of the bankrupt English class system which classified everyone according to accent. accent, as

They promptly classified Ian, based on his

not one of us.

Ian soon found out Vienna was a key outpost in the intelligence war.

And a war it was.

The open hostilities which had

ceased with the armistice agreements had been redoubled in secret operations - by the Kremlin.

Vienna was the easternmost outpost

of Western intelligence and the center of all Danube Valley espionage.

The city was still occupied by the four powers: the U.S.A,

Great Britain, the Soviet union and France. location,

On account of its key

Vienna created immense intelligence opportunities for

both east and west of the Iron curtain which had descended with finality to divide Europe while Ian was attending his cadet school.

-49-

The English had secured some of the choicest buildings in the imperial capital for their offices, hotels and accomodations.

Ian's delight, the intelligence offices were housed in the Schoenbrunn Palace, the Austrian emperor's suburban home set in a magnificent park and surrounded by pleasant dales and inviting woods. Ian found himself working under a refugee from England's fast-shrinking possessions.

His name was Captain Adolph Hitmer.

The unfortunate similarity of his name to those of the two top Nazis, Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, had led to a degree of defensive self-consciousness on Hitmer's part.

He was the only

son of a German furniture dealer who had been obliged to flee Germany in the nineteen thirties due to the anti-Jewish measures of the Nazis. captain Hitmer kept Ian busy interrogating Magyar refugees and building up information on the growing Russian military and intelligence presence in the Danube Valley.

Ian loved his work,

and Captain Hitmer loved Ian for his increasingly sophisticated reports; Ian was blissfully unaware that his captain was getting credit for them. There was another reason Ian was happy in Vienna.

He soon

found out that the Austrian capital had an inexhaustible array of pretty girls

impatient for a share of his attention.

surprise, they shamelessly flirted with him.

To his

Their elderly female

relatives concerned themselves from the first time they set eyes on him to get the gallant officer, who was not only a gentleman but also one of the very few officers on the staff of the Four

Powers who spoke the native language with such delightful ease and charming fluency.

He was classified as a highly eligible bachelor

and a devotee of Gemutlichkeit. Thus Ian was soon inundated with invitations to dances, tea parties,

balls,

promenades and concerts.

Johnny Eszterhazy was

delighted to see him under such vastly improved circumstances. organized a small and elegant dance at his palace for him,

He to

which he invited many of the pretty girls Ian had already flirted wi th.

He also invited a few he had not flirted with or met before. "Please meet Mausie Meran," said Johnny. When she saw Ianls face, with a slightly mocking smile, she

recognized by his manner and first words that he was a man of her own set.

She looked up at him with her deep, starry, grey eyes.

Ian bent down to kiss her hand and clicked his magnificent regimental boots just enough for the spurs to emit a discreet jingle.

Her

face

looked vaguely

familiar.

He was

trying to

remember where he had seen her before. "Enchanted," he said. "Your name ... Ian?" "And may I call you Mausie?" "Please do," she said and continued to speak in a VOlce that quivered with emotion.

152.

Imre stopped in his tracks. He looked into the smiling face of Howard on his right and the English brigadier on his left, puffing at his pipe.

Both were

in mufti. IICongratulations on your speech!1I said the officer with the pipe. II Imre, you were courageous, even foolhardy, II Howard added, patting his forearm.

Several congressmen passed by them.

The

trio resumed talking only when Imre stopped at a window overlooking the Danube and the citadel beyond. lIyou know,

Prince Imre, II -- the brigadier couldn't bring

himself to address the Magyar in a more familiar way -- IItowards the

end of your address, we decided to take you out of here II

you are walking on the edge of a cliff

I f you keep this up, you 'll be arrested! II

IIHere in the halls of our ancient parliament?1I questioned Imre. Howard lowered his voice to a whisper. "We have it on the best of authority, Imre,lI replied Howard with surpressed urgency.

liThe police are ready to arrest you any

moment now ... " " ... and we are no longer 1.n a position to prevent that happening," said the brigadier, a cloud of smoke partly obscuring his anxious face.

-52-

The magnificence of the Danube and the hill beyond glittered in the

sun,

about to set behind Coronation Church.

The very

beauty of the scene filled Imre with a sadness beyond sighs. [ Has

it come to this?

hallowed building, ceremony,

Do I have to say farewell to this

the scene of triumphs and defeats, pomp and

for my grandfather,

efforts been in vain?

to Papi and myself?

Have all our

Lord, give me strength not to cry.

courage to face the future.

Give me

Give endurance to those who I am now

so reluctant to leave! ] "You have to leave the country, silence.

said Howard after a long

"You must take Ellen with you ... she is in as great a

danger as you are.

Imre knew what it must have cost him to say

this. "Can you gentlemen help me?" asked Imre after another long pause. "We have already taken steps to advise Janos and Elma against returning from their honeymoon, you?

said Howard,

then added:

"Help

I regret to tell you we can't help you to get out of the

country, nor can we help you get across the border. "You see,

Prince Imre,

said Graham,

"we are under police

surveillance almost constantly, and many of our agents are in the net of the police.

"We have come to this," remarked Imre quietly.

"Well, well!"

"0nce you reach Austria we can give you all the help you need,

Howard added quickly.

-53-

"His Majesty's Government will extend all possible assistance wi thin its power." Imre turned away from the window and accompanied by the two Western diplomats, walked to Howard's car. "Please do not come back here again, It the American said in the car.

It sounded like a command.

It was a heartfelt plea.

"Sir,1t added Graham, "I wouldn't tempt fate.

Leave as soon

as you can!" A week later Imre and Ellen found it convenient to visit the Transdanubian headquarters of the party on the Lake Balaton, close to Father Istvan's constituency. Istvan,

Early in the afternoon Father

Imre and Ellen sped westward.

territory well. route many times.

Father Istvan knew the

During the Nazi occupation he had travelled this Progress on the poor country roads was slow.

After about an hour and a half of uninterrupted driving, Janos, who had been used to driving the Chabaffys' ancient Rolls Royce, turned off the road onto a narrow strip of land and stopped at a forest clearing. "Good luck!" he said with tears in his eyes. Lord have you in his keeping."

"May the good

Imre offered to take him along,

but Janos was as insistent on staying behind, as was Aunt Mitzi. "Our guide should be here shortly," said Father Istvan, glancing at his watch. An hour later there was still no sign of him.

"Perhaps he is waiting for the sun to set," Ellen remarked, keeping up her optimism.

-54-

It was almost dark when the three heard the call of the owl, the agreed-upon signal.

Their guide appeared with three horses in

tow. "Please pay me now," he said sternly. Father Istvan wordlessly handed over the half of the agreedupon sum. "This is not enough," said the guide. "That is what we agreed upon," said Father Istvan. "We don't make a move unless you hand over the full amount," said the guide adamantly. "How can we be sure you'll take us to the border?1I lIyou just have to trust me. II After a thirty-minute ride, the smuggler brought his horse to a halt and said: "We have arrived in the border area.

You have to dismount. II

"How far is the border? II "Not far," replied the guide vaguely. "What are we waiting for?" asked Ellen. "Two more people will be here soon, "That was not in our agreement!

replied the smuggler. said Father Istvan.

The

guide chose to ignore his remark. A few minutes later two young women dressed 1n city clothing arrived, guided by a young boy. Imre wasn't happy to see the smuggler turn around to depart, leaving the party in the care of a teenager.

-55-

After walking in the dark for nearly an hour, Ellen asked him: "How far are we from Austria?" "Two or three hours of walking will do it," replied the youngster cheerfully.

A few hours later the party ran into three

men who were moving in the same direction.

It turned out that

they were fleeing to avoid military service in the Cornrnunistcontrolled army. The enlarged party continued to walk in a single file. Much later,

glancing at his watch, Father Istvan announced

that it was one in the morning. "How far are we now?" Imre asked of the young man. "Two or three hours," he replied. "You said that much earlier!" exclaimed Ellen, who was becoming more tired by the minute.

The file moved silently through

valleys and hills, through fields and forests, with barely a rest. Dawn was close. The party arrived at a small river. "Where is the border between Austria and Magyarland?" "Do you see that big stone over there?

That marks the border, "

replied the teenager. The whole file turned east for a wordless farewell to their homeland. leaves.

Ellen pulled a tree branch to her lips and kissed the Father Istvan crossed himself and fingered his rosary.

Imre felt the anguish of dryness in his eyes.

-56-

In the distance the party saw the church spire of the Austrian village closest to the border. forest.

The men started running out of the

As the Magyars got to the edge of the village two Austrian

policemen stepped out from behind a house. IIHal t ! Who are you? II Everybody produced identity papers. Imre explained everything to the Austrians and then simply ended by saying: IIWe are political refugees. II The policemen replied, visibly embarassed: "Please understand.

We are in the Russian Zone of Austria.

We have strict instructions to arrest anyone who travels without a passport and proper visas.

We are under strict orders.

We have

to hand you over to the Russians, or to the Magyar authorities. Take your choice!" II That 's quite impossible! II bellowed Father Istvan in his imperfect German.

IIBoth the Russkies and the Magyars would string

us up! II The Austrians

held

a hasty conference among themselves.

Finally one of them said: "We can't decide on this.

We'll take you to the station.

We'll let our police chief make the decision." As the party lined up for the walk, their teenage guide broke into a run.

One of the policemen fired after him.

himself up.

-57-

The guide gave

"You idiot," shouted Imre. thing?

"Why did you do such a stupid

You are endangering the safety of all of us!"

"Terribly sorry,"

replied the trembling youth in Magyar.

"I'm a smuggler, but so far the border guards have been unable to catch me.

Now my game is up!"

The two policemen confiscated his rucksack full of contraband cigarettes and promised him a long stretch in prison.

The teenager

started to cry. At the police station, Imre explained the situation to the sergeant on duty. "Quick,

quick," he said hastily,

"go in the back of the

building and stay there until I tell you the coast is clear. Russians patrol this street every hour or so.

The

While you keep out

of sight, I'll call the district captain on the phone for further instructions." An hour later a car drove up to the police station. A tall, immaculately dressed lieutenant-colonel stepped into the station. Imre once again explained who he was, identified Ellen as his sister and Father Istvan as a former head-of-state. "My dear Prince Chabaffy.

I have served in the joint Austro-

Magyar Army in the same regiment as your father. detest the Russians as much as you do. ble to help you.

I'll do everything possi-

I'll have you taken by bus to Eisenstadt, the

capital of this province. escort.

We Austrians

I'll provide you with a strong police

That will be a pure formality.

-58-

The escort will be there

to protect you from the Russians. our prisoners.

They will be told that you are

In Eisenstadt you'll be taken to the provincial

governor who shares my views. II lIean you please take care of the others toO?1I Imre asked. liThe two young women I'll put on the train to Graz, which is the capital of the British Zone. under arrest here.

The three deserters must remain

I'll put them to work tomorrow

We'll give

them an opportunity to escape to the British Zone. II After a short bus ride, Imre, Ellen and Father Istvan arrived 1n the provincial capital. ernor's palace.

Imre immediately recognized the gov-

It was Johnny Exzterhazy's birthplace, a magnifi-

cent baroque manor house. "The governor will not see you colonel.

explained the lieutenant-

"Your arrival has put him in an ambiguous position.

Russian standing orders would have him hand you over to the Red Army.

He doesn't want to do that.

palace for the rest of the day.

So he has left the governor's He has given me orders to take

you to vienna." The four changed into a large Austrian military staff car and the Magyars were hand-cuffed.

On the way to the Austrian capital

the car was halted several times by Russian patrols.

Each time

the Austrian officer pointed to the hand-cuffed Magyars and said in Russian: "Our prisoners!" Less than two hours later the Magyars arrived in Vienna.

-59-

"From now on," explained the lieutenant-colonel,

"you are

under the protection of England, America and France."

153.

A week earlier, Ian had received an excited call from Field Security in Graz.

It was a sergeant of Magyar heritage whom Ian

had befriended on a field trip soon after his arrival in Austria. "We have a man, Sir," he repeated, "who claims to be a general." At first Ian had been surprised to get the call. realized that Captain Hi tmer,

Then he had

its logical recipient,

was out

shopping. A much greater surprlse greeted him a few hours later when he was lead to the jail outside town where all the important refugees were immediately taken upon arrival in the British Zone.

This was

a measure for their protection, not custody of the Russian kind. He had just finished explaining all of this to the Magyar general when the latter told Ian that he wished to speak with him privately.

Ian dismissed the staff-sergeant, the non-commissioned

officer in charge of the prison. "He doesn't speak any Magyar," said Ian, but to comply with your wish, here I am, alone." The prisoner switched to Magyar.

Previously he had spoken ln

broken German, out of regard to the staff-sergeant. "I'm very glad to see you major!" he exclaimed.

-60-

"I'm a lieutenant," said Ian smiling. "Frankly

didn't

general continued.

trust the previous

Ian,

interrogator,"

who appeared surprised,

the

quickly asked

him: "How long have you been here?" "Eight days." Ian still

feigned

indifference.

"Why didn't you like my

fellow officer?" "He asked some peculiar questions." "Like what?" "What I

knew about British intelligence operations in Aus-

tria ... did I leave any family behind? please.

Their names and addresses,

Did I commit any crimes, like embezzlement, which would

have induced me to desert?

Rather unfriendly questions, don't you

agree?" "Do you have any sensitive information?" "Yes, I do.

Very important information."

"Did you mention that before?" "No, I didn't ... "I know,

I know,"

I told you I didn't trust I an interrupted him.

"What did he look

like?" "He was a captain," replied the general.

"He had three stars

on his shoulders," he added by way of explanation.

"About forty."

"Can you describe him?" The

general proceeded to give an accurate description of

Captain Hi tmer:

one

hundred

seventy centimeters high,

graying hair, green eyes and a slightly protuding stomach. -61-

curly

"Who was with him?' "A civilian, somewhat younger." Ian was puzzled. civilian.

He asked for a detailed description of the

It didn't remind Ian of any officer or non-commissioned

officer he knew.

He then proceeded to ask the general a long list

of standard questions which convinced him that the Magyar was not a Russian plant but a genuine refugee.

Western intelligence

operators had to be constantly on the lookout for Russian spies, known as plants.

These were sent over from the other side of the

Iron Curtain for the purpose of finding out the west's methods of interrogation and screening, and for planting misinformation about the Red Army,

Russian intelligence and secret police and the

battle orders of Russian troops and their satellites. At the end of the first interrogation Ian asked him bluntly: "General,

did you answer the other officers'

questions

truthfully?tI The Magyar was a good-looking man, in his early forties.

was powerfully built, not tall, clean-shaven, with a prominent nose, and a well-shaped face and lips. side of his forehead.

He had a deep scar on the

Practically a chain-smoker, he constantly

begged his interrogator for more cigarettes. Ian looked straight into the melancholy eyes of the general. He liked what he saw. "I did and I didn't." "What do you mean by that?" The Magyar officer wriggled uncomfortably.

"I answered his questions, but not fully, sir," he said after a pause. Ian felt this was not the time to press him for details.

flashed a smile and was about to leave when the general turned to him and quietly said: "I was asked about atomic weapons

"He asked you ... 7" "The Englishman was careful to explain he thought that, as corps commander, I would be able to give him some information. II "Did yoU?1I Ian had purposely made it a double question, and the general chose to give the safer answer: "I didn't," he said.

Perhaps to put off any further ques-

tions, he added: "I also asked about intelligence II

Intelligence7 11 Ian cut in sharply.

lICouriers

did the High Command give any information on

the dispostion of the British, American and French forces facing him in Austria?

Also codes?

Any Western spies caught in Magyar-

land in the last six months or SO?II Ian's puzzlement started to ripen into suspicion. "You see, we had a remarkable run of success catching Western spies. "

Ian hesitated between the confidence inspired by the

personality of the general and his own ingrained habit of caution. He only smiled and bid the general farewell. On his way back to Vienna he tried to put the jigsaw puzzle together.

There were so many pieces because the Russians had an

-63-

enormous array of espionage organizations, some dating back to the days of the Czars.

Ian had already had first-hand experience with

them in Magyarland - yet it was only in working for the English that he had seen the various parts fall into place.

He had learned

a lot about them during his training and briefings back in England, and he had learned even more in Vienna. There was the M.V.D., the Ministry of the Interior. responsible for internal security. Ministry of State Security,

It was

It had a twin, the M.G.B., the

in charge of foreign intelligence,

propaganda in target countries, economic sabotage and fifth column operation.

Under Stalin, these twins had grown into monstrosi-

ties, with literally millions in their ranks. The Russian intelligence and counter-intelligence had countless branches and subsidiaries.

These were split into factions by

rivalries and jeolousies, imagined and real, which reached from the highest councils of the state to every village. spied on each other.

They often

All these had their mini-duplicates in all

the countries east of the Iron Curtain, After talking to the general,

including Magyarland.

I an said to himself,

"There is

something fishy here, but I can't lay my finger on it." Was it the general?

Or something he had said?

He had such honest eyes. Ian decided to keep the general on ice while he prepared the lengthy report on his initial interrogation.

He was getting

toward the end of his account, typed on pink paper denoting its top-secret nature, when the telephone on his desk rang.

-64-

An American was on the line.

"Your brother is here." "Where?" "Come over.

He wants to see you.

Ask for me.

My name is

Moose Sinclair."

154.

"I wish you'd stay here Imre," Ian said, without much conV1Ction ln his voice. The two brothers had not seen each other for a long time. The Chabaffys were not known to do anything half-heartedly, Imre was no exception. already tasted,

Imre was twenty-seven now;

and

and he had

like William pitt a century and a half earlier,

the highest reaches of power in his country.

Unlike Pitt, he had

also known the lowest pit of degradation. Over a dinner at the Sacher Hotel, mess,

the British officers'

Imre gave Ian accounts of his rear-guard action against the

Russian takeover and his escape.

This was the first meal the

brothers had shared alone since Moose,

the young American major

from Denver, had brought them together.

As long as Imre's narra-

tive lasted, they shared animated spirits. stopped talking,

Once the older brother

an awkward silence followed.

of intimacy was not present.

Their usual sense

Tonus hovered between them, unseen and very much felt.

Imre

broke the silence: "I hear you are courting the widow of one of our celebrated war criminals." Tonus too.

Ian knew that his brother had been thinking about

He bristled at Imre' s reproving tone.

"She was Raoul's friend," was all he said in reply. "Of all the beautiful girls in Vienna

"When Imre noticed

Ian's eyes, he stopped in mid-sentence. He looked at his brother with the same penetrating look which he had used to appraise a Nazi interrogator and a Communist Party boss.

Ian met his eyes.

brothers.

Everything was clearly known between the

Ian turned crimson and hastily took a sip of the coffee

which he had thus far neglected. It was then that Ian expressed the wish Imre would stay in Vienna. "I must join Papi in New York as soon as possible ...

I'm

taking Ellen with me." "Where is she now?" Ian asked. "Settling accounts with Johnny Eszterhazy." As if divining Ian's thoughts, Imre quickly added: "I tried to get in touch with Tonus.

She is on the Riviera

now, visiting some relatives in Monte Carlo. "Any news about Maria?" Ian asked,

averting Imre' s eyes.

"Not a word ... this does not mean you should rush into another relationship.

You are not yet ... "

Another awkward silence settled between the brothers.

Imre

drummed the tablecloth with two fingers, then took out a cigar and, with elaborate ritual, lit it. "A bloody disgrace! claimed at last.

That's what's happening now, II he ex-

"Our homeland, along with everything east of us,

is being swallowed up by the Russians, II he said heatedly.

IIChur-

chill sold us down the river, and the English socialists are doing their best to finish his job. allowed a third term.

Roosevelt should never have been

Truman is a courageous man, but he has no

idea how to deal with the Russians,

at least in Europe. II

His

words came out effortlessly, like those of a man who had not been allowed to express his feelings in confidence for some time.

His

eyes sparkled with more fire as the views he expressed became gloomier. Twirling his brandy goblet, Imre continued rapidly: "Do you know, Ian, the Western powers are so impotent that I had to organize my own escape!

Many of their agents were caught

in the last few months." IIHoward ... ? II his brother asked. "He told me about the loss of his agents.

He warned me to

get out, but didn't dare to put me on the American military mission's plane

Zol tan is still home,

hopeless struggle. II

fighting a valiant but

Imre made a wide sweep with his arms, then

put the cigar back in his mouth to stop the flow of his unhappy words.

-67-

"At least we are all safe, thank God," he said after a long pause, refolding his white linen napkin with his scarred fingers. He looked appraisingly at Ian.

He still weighed only fifty kilos,

but he looked remarkably fit to Imre. "Is the army agreeing with you?" he asked solicitously. "The pay is ridiculously low, hours long,

the red tape laughable, the

the petty little politics frustrating.

Despite all

this, I enj oy what I'm doing and the ... " He stopped in mid-sentence. general's escape or shouldn't he?

Should he tell Imre about the The whole matter was classified

"Top Secret" and was only known to a handful of people. "Is there something you want to tell me?" Imre asked when he noticed Ian's hesitation. There was something about the manner of the Magyar general, Ian remembered, which finally impelled him to ask Imre. "Did anyone else think of escaping when you did?

I don't

mean Ellen and Father Istvan, of course." "Every decent ... " "I know," Ian cut ln uncharacteristically.

"I mean from the

armed forces?" "Well, the Russianization of the Army smiled broadly, "You mean Miklos?

"Imre stopped and

General Vasarhelyi?"

Ian grinned sheepishly. "He is with us." "He came to talk to us last month," Imre said.

"I suggested

to him that he collect as much useful information as he could,

then slip over ...

I remember he said something about getting

into a fight with the local Communist Party secretary ... being disgusted with the whole system of subservience and with the political commissars countermanding his orders ... 11 Ian was certain now that his original hunch about the general was correct.

He was relieved and felt himself free to speak to

his brother about his important guest.

Once again Imre impressed

him with the way he kept tabs on everything of importance concerning Magyarland.

After all, he was Magyarland.

The waiter came up, after looking at Imre, who nodded quietly. Ian ordered another brandy for his brother and a Drambuie for himself. IIThere is something you ought to know,1I said Imre, after the waiter came back with their round.

lilt is absolutely imperative

you handle this with utmost discretion.

You promise? II

1I0f course. II Ills this place secure?1I Imre asked. IIWhat do you mean?1I asked Ian suprised. II Any bugs? II III doubt it, but you are free to look.

Besides, I wonder if

anyone understands the Magyar we are speaking now. II Imre looked under the table, examined the vase of flowers and the light fixture.

He talked so quietly that Ian had to bend

closer to him and cup his ears to hear what he had to say. liThe waiter ... II Imre whispered.

-69-

"Well, go on," Ian whispered back. "One can't be careful enough," Imre continued. going to tell you is very important mouth

you know

"What I am

I'm going to cup my

lip-readers."

"Perhaps we should go for a walk in the park, if you are that concerned," suggested Ian. Imre leaned back in his comfortable chair,

looked around,

took a puff at his cigar, then shielded his lips with the hand that held it, and whispered almost inaudibly: "The Russians have the secret of the atom bomb." It took Ian a while before the significance of those few words sank in. "But that's

Imre knew what he was going to say and interrupted him: "I'm afraid it's true." "So soon after the Americans ... ?" "Yes, I an, so soon." "The Russians don't have the technical know-how!" exclaimed Ian, barely above a whisper. "They have the know-how to ferret out secrets," replied Imre. "And for God's sake, keep your voice down!" "This is a disaster!

A terrible calamity!

said Ian.

"The Americans had this termendous advantage over the Russians," continued Imre bitterly I "and never made any use of it." "Except in Iran." "In Iran ... " said Imre vaguely.

-70-

"Truman told them to get the hell out of Northern Iran and they did." "It only shows that the one language the Russians comprehend is force combined with resolution. Imre,

I don't understand," continued

still whispering, "why Truman didn't use that language in

Europe?" "There is only one explanation," said Ian. "Explanation about Truman?" "I don't mean Truman," replied Ian.

"There must have been a

betrayal somewhere." "A colossal leak," agreed Imre. Ian's thoughts were awhirl.

He tried to let his mind settle,

and didn't say anything for a while. "Now you know why I decided to leave my fatherland," remarked Imre quietly, putting out the stump of his cigar. Howard had warned me.

"Of course,

But I needed more than that ... "

Ian watched the finely chiselled features of his brother.

could see the anguish that took precedence over thoughts about Tonus.

He was as close to weeping as I an had ever seen him.

" . .. there is something rotten in the state of Denmark," Imre said, after a pause. A sudden thought jolted Ian out of his reverie. "How did you find out?" "Miklos."

That was all Imre said.

Ian wrinkled his forehead.

He knew his mind was after something very close. figure out what it was.

He couldn't

He sensed his brain cells were making

-71-

connections at an unbelievable rate and that sooner or later they would translate into a statement or a question.

Now he was just

baffled. "I know of only one person who could help," Imre remarked. "Who?" "Papi. access.

He has all those connections in washington.

He has

That is why I'm taking a plane to Munich tomorrow, to

catch a flight to America. composure fully restored.

This can't wait,

declared Imre, his

"You cover the English ... "

"I've got it!" exlaimed Ian, slapping his right leg immediately above the knee.

He leaned forward and whispered to Imre:

"The English, of course." "What do you mean?" asked Imre, a trifle impatient. "Something irregular happened when Miklos arrived." "Indeed?"

Imre, who until then had been slumped elegantly J.n

his chair, bolted upright. "I wasn't notified immediately. comes to us,

a Magyar,

Whenever a military man

I am to be notified immediately.

When

Miklos arrived, I wasn't." "Good God!" exclaimed Imre. "My boss went to see him accompanied by someone I don't know, who asked him a lot of questions that Miklos didn't like." went on rapidly.

"I found out about him quite accidentally.

I an A

sergeant on the border tipped me off, and I got a message meant for my boss. "

-72-

"I I m glad you told me," said Imre as he rose.

"No time to

waste." "1 ' m glad Miklos told me," added Ian, not at all relieved.

155.

Mausie was in turmoil.

She was very much in love.

As young

women often do, she confided her innermost feelings to a diary. She also wrote letters.

In these she tried to convince Ian that

she was the only possible wife for him, that nowhere in the wide world could he hope to find anyone quite as wonderful as her. They are two halves of a whole, their destiny is to unite, no matter when, where or how.

Together they would be able to accom-

plish miracles. As she was writing,

she remembered the miracles she had

helped Raoul to perform in Budapest, and she felt certain fate had given her another chance to help a miracle-maker. She often thought about the few times she had seen Raoul in Magyarland.

She would become anguished about his disappearance

and pray for his safe return.

When she had met Ian, she was

struck by the physical similarities between the two men:

Ian was

much younger than Raoul, two years younger than herself in fact; yet he looked almost as old as the Swede when she had last seen him,

carrying a bunch of flowers to her car, back on December

tenth, 1945. again.

She was never to see either her husband or Raoul

Her husband was summarily executed.

A War Crime Tribunal

more than a year before, sentenced him and the other members of the

German-sponsored puppet-cabinet

guilt.

death

for

"collective

Mausie composed letters to Ian almost every day. one she tried a bold new approach.

In the last

She offered to live with him,

without the benefit of a marriage ceremony.

This was a desperate

move on her part, because Ian had given no sign of interest since his brother and sister had passed through Vienna.

Trying to find

out what had happened, Mausie had approached Johnny.

He confided

to her that Ian was head-over-heels in love with Princess Maria, who had disappeared during the Warsaw uprising at the end of the war.

Until he was certain about her fate,

Johnny had explained,

Ian was not ready to give his heart to anyone else. letter Mausie explained that his feelings

In another

for the other person

made her appreciate him that much more, as they bespoke of his tender and poetic nature, the very nature she had longed for all her life. These passionate letters were kept locked in a secret drawer of the chest in her bedroom.

She never was able to get up enough

courage to mail any of them.

writing them gave her no more than

temporary relief. Mausie kept meeting Ian at the various balls, parties and dinners to which both were invited almost daily. the

season before

Gemuetlichkei t

Lent.

after

It was Fasching,

Viennese society still starved

nearly a

decade under the Nazi

for

shadow.

Fasching brought the best out of the Austrians: laughter,

dancing -

romance, fun,

and the intricate maneuvers required for

finding a mate. The young Countess Meran was trying to find an innovative way of catching Ian.

She began to canvass her numerous female rela-

tives for advice. In the end no less a person than the redoubtable Aunt Pauline came up with a plan which she claimed had worked for her sister and which should now prove infallible for her grandniece Mausie as well. The young woman was already at the limit of her patience. Ian never brought up the subject of love and marriage, and one of her admirers was on the verge of proposing to her. She didn't have to wait long for her chance. The very next evening she came across Ian at a charity ball for the benefit of the Viennese Opera. "My dear Ian, sentence.

I need your advice," was Mausie' s openl.ng

The Scot looked resplendent in his court outfit:

kilt, a white shirt with a lace jabot and a velvet doublet.

a He

had had it made in Edinburgh only a few months earlier when he had been on duty for a brief spell at Holyrood House, the British royal family's palace near the Scottish capital. "This is not for my benefit, but for a cousin of mine.

She

is very much in love with a man whose feelings she is uncertain about," Mausie continued.

"There is another man who wants to

marry her, but she does not reciprocate his feelings.

-75-

What do you

think - would it be advisable for my cousin to marry the man who proposed to her, someone she doesn't love? II Ian minutely examined a silver button on his doublet which glimmered like a jewel in the candle light. "If your cousin really loves her man,1I Ian replied after a while,

s he shouldn't get married to someone else."

"What if my cousin is involved in a hopeless romance?1I continued Mausie, who so far had carried on her ploy word for word the way Aunt Pauline had coached her.

"Wouldn't she- be better off

getting rid of her unreciprocated feelings?

And wouldn't a mar-

riage be the best remedy for that?" After a long silence Ian said quietly: Ills the man she loves engaged to someone else?1I Mausie regarded Ian's reported deep feelings for Maria nothing less than an engagement, so she replied: "I'm afraid he is.

Ian continued to let his eyes roam around as if in search of something.

He muttered an almost unintelligible reply:

lilt is an hell of a situation when a man has divided loyalties. II

Mausie' s heart missed a beat.

Ian had understood her

veiled reference. "Tell your cousin,

he added in his continued mutter, lito

marry the man who loves her.

There is a good chance she'll be

able to make him happy." Ian was about to add something.

Mausie noticed his hesita-

tion, but didn't encourage him to continue in any way.

-76-

"You are right, because as you said, the man in question is already engaged." This was not in Aunt Pauline's script at all. left hand to her brow as if to faint.

Mausie put her

She collected herself and

managed to say: "Would you like to dance?"

Mausie, not waiting for Ian's

answer, moved towards the dance floor. "I'm in no mood to dance, II she heard him say. not for us.

Nothing is in store for us

"This waltz is

Claude Cartier came up and swept her into the whirl of the dancers. IIFor God sake, pull yourself together ...

All eyes are on

you. " Ian stared after them in silence. For the next week he avoided Mausie's company. way it appeared to Mausie, at least. Matilda Thurm, a German princess.

That was the

He favored the company of

Mausie was ready to scratch her

eyes out. At Johnny Eszterhazy's next party Matilda came up to her: "You may not believe this, but Ian speaks about you all the time.

He has to get over his first love.

When he marries you,

please do remember: your husband is the most sensitive and poetic soul in the world." "Is this true?1I asked Mausie, elated.

lilt won't be easy," continued Matilda, who was a tall, beautiful girl from Munich.

III mean ... to live up to such a man and

such a passion. II The next day, Mausie met Ian in the corridor runn1ng along the sides of the ballroom of Prince Metternich' s palace. pulled her into an alcove.

Ian

Mausie felt his lips on hers, his body

insistent. This was the scene of their first kiss.

Time and circum-

stances vanished for them. When Mausie came back into the ballroom escorted by Ian, all their friends, the corps of parents and chaperons, were watching them.

What the pair didn't realize was that, through the thin

lace curtains of the French windows, all the dancing pairs, slowing down their pace, had been able to study their passionate embrace. After the next dance, Mausie's parents took her home. "Did he ask you to marry him?" her mother asked severely, as they rode along in the coach. IINo," whispered Mausie. IIYour only excuse," thundered her father,

but not loudly

enough for the coachman to hear the family squabble, lIis that you are completely insane. II "A public disgrace,1I added her mother threateningly. For the next few days Mausie was confined to her home. penalty, right in the midst of Fasching, was hard to bear.

-78-

This On the

first day of her freedom, Mausie took a cab out to the Schonbrunn Palace to visit Ian. She got there just before noon, when she knew Ian was getting ready to have his lunch. The orderly non-commissioned officer on duty escorted her into Ian's office. oriental

carpet

Her eyes swept over the ceramic stove, a large

from

the

Chabaffy townhouse

in Buda,

and the

portrait of Ian's maternal great-uncle, the first director of the Magyar National Gallery. Ian called up the Mess,

reserving a table for two.

In the

dining room his fellow officers looked at them, trying to appear that they weren't staring.

Mausie was walking, or rather sitting,

on air. She quietly asked for some wine. champagne.

I an ordered a bottle of

She felt his eyes watch her breasts rising and falling

with every breath. III came to tell you that you should not feel under any obligation to propose to me, II she announced after dessert was served. Mausie knew precisely what Ian's response would be.

She was not

disappointed. He protested: IIAre you trying to discourage me?1I IINot at all.

I would just like you to know that in case you

change your mind, because you can't get over that other person, I will understand. II

-79-

The more understanding she became, the harder Ian protested. Sentences flowed out of his mouth involuntarily, and Mausie soaked them up hungrily. Ian did not have Raoul's charisma, but he did have her late husband's charm and a certain puckishness. was a member of the famed Chabaffy clan. inside than out. her.

Most importantly, he She felt more fragile

The shock of her husband's execution had dazed

She had lost some of her light-heartedness and a bit of the

spark in her eyes.

To prepare for this important meeting, Mausie

had put on a light blouse with an open collar, which showed her to her advantage, and a small fur cape and lovely pearl necklace. While she sipped her coffee, holding her necklace with her left hand, Mausie heard Ian actually saying it: "Give me a month ... and then we can announce our engagement publicly."

156.

"Ede, these are the facts!"

Throwing his arm forward, palm

upturned, the elder Prince Chabaffy hurried the statement into his friend's face. Imre, next to him, nodded in assent. "Terrible ... Terrible ... II the prince kept repeating. enormous bushy eyebrows bristled with indignation.

-80-

His

The Magyar

trio was ensconsed in the comfortable sitting room of the prince's Park Avenue apartment in New York. "My son left our homeland immediately, Ede, when he became reasonably certain about this ... II "Tibor, this is bad news, very bad news." " . .. Imre took the first flight out of Europe to bring us this news.

He arrived only last Monday.

informed immediately.

The president must be

That is why I called you!"

The three Chabaffys, father and son and father and daughter, embraced for a long time when they first saw each other at the New Jersey air field. To each of them it was a happy reunion with significances of many shadings.

Prince Tibor's sadness at seeing his son so aged

and underweight, his hair almost as grey as his own, was overcome by the joy of being with him again and by the realization that his daughter had turned out to be such a beautiful and vital woman. Ellen clung fiercely to her father, her idol and the undisguised object of her admiration and love.

Her frame was racked with sobs

of joy and relief. She looked around with satisfaction at her father's large apartment, which he had moved into upon resigning his professorship at Georgetown University less than a year before.

It was

located in a large apartment building which belonged to the Schwarz family on the corner of 86th Street and Park Avenue.

Ellen par-

ticularly liked the fact that each of the three bedrooms had its own bathroom, and Imre was taken by the spectacular view he had

-81-

when he stepped onto the balcony with the south-western exposure: the teeming towers of Manhattan and the ant-like activity on the streets below. Most of all they liked Beatrice, the black housekeeper. great grandparents had been slaves in the south.

Her

To Imre and

Ellen, the concept of slavery in America was quite incomprehensible,

and racial prejudice a shock.

Both noticed signs in the

building prohibiting blacks the use of part of it. supposedly "semi-feudal II country, feudal and repugnant.

Coming from a

they found these signs quite

Both embraced Beatrice warmly and treated

her as part of the family, just as they had Juliska, Borishka and Vince back home. Tibor had arrived in America with little more than the coat on his back, yet the apartment seemed like a home no money could buy.

After he had moved from Washington to New York the previous

year, he had been frequently seen at Park Bernett and other auction houses in the neighborhood.

In a short time he had bought French

wall tapestries, paintings, Oriental rugs, even Chinese vases and European silverware at bargain prices.

These were supplemented by

family heirlooms Howard and other members of the American Mission had sent out,

a few priceless objects which had survived the

seige, the German and the Russian occupations. Tibor also loved large plants; in every room, they set off the antiques and family pieces.

His apartment had a character

which could only be described as understated European elegance.

-82-

No wonder the new Chabaffy arrivals took an immediate liking to their Manhattan home. Their father had an even greater surprise for them. Her name was Ann. Tibor had admitted to some trepidation about how his children would react to his friend.

He need not have worried.

Ann was a shade taller than Tibor. lucent.

Her ivory skin was trans-

Her eyes were dark pools of liquid which reminded Imre of

a certain Transylvanian gypsy.

Her black hair fell down to her

waist when she loosened it after coming home from work.

She was

from Hawaii, and her heritage was Chinese, French and Irish.

What

dissolved the younger Chabaffys' initial reserve, if they had had any, was hearing her peels of laughter while they approached the apartment after their first days of sightseeing.

The young Chabaffys

realized that Tibor and Ann had more fun together than a barrel of monkeys. Ann was a year younger than Imre.

Ellen took to her like a

sister; and Imre, like Magyars, who have a keen appreciation for feminine beauty are wont to do, approved of his father's impeccable selection. She was smart, too.

She worked with a Madison Avenue adver-

tising agency, where she had coined a phrase for a brand of cigarettes.

It could be seen, read and heard everywhere.

Those few

well-chosen words had brought her a partnership and an income the young Chabaffys could barely comprehend.

-83-

An amazing country,

mused Imre, where a well-turned phrase could bring one instant fame and fortune. Tibor related on their first night in the apartment, amid much laughter, the story of how they had first met.

They had been

neighbors in Washington, where Tibor had rented a small apartment on his arrival in America.

Ann had recognized her new neighbor

from a front-page newspaper photograph and reported the arrival of the "dangerous foreigner" to the police. Imre wondered what had kept the two together for three years. He tried out the theory that both came from parts of the world which might be viewed as victims of treachery: Pearl Harbor (Ann's parents were killed during the surprise attack) and Budapest. After a while

he gave up theorizing.

He was glad to see his

father so happy with Ann. Right above Tibor's apartment, the penthouse was the home of the Schwarz dynasty.

So far,

Imre and Ellen had only talked to

them on the phone, but Tibor and Imre were both looking forward to the resumption of their Budapest bridge games and the close friendship that had knitted the two families so closely together. Immediately after

calling upstairs,

Tibor called Edward

Teller, one of several Magyars involved in atomic research.

His

key role had led to the joke that the official language of the Manhattan Project was Magyar,

an interpreter being required to

communicate with the natives.

Dr. Teller happened to be testify-

ing in front of a Congressional Committee, which made it conven-

-84-

ient for him to make a side trip to New York before returning to his laboratory. The two famous Magyars knew each other well. the same school,

Both had attended

both had been brilliant students, both were

refugees from HitIer's Europe.

What Tibor, who was fi ve years

Teller's senior, admired most about his compatriot was his integrity and his fierce love of his adopted country, which he regarded as the last great stronghold of freedom. "He has none of the wooly, false illusions of the left wing here who believe Stalin is a gift to mankind and Communism the wave of the future,

he explained to Imre after talking to Dr. Teller

on the phone, inviting him over for an urgent meeting.

"Those

so-called liberals refuse to see the ominous similarities between the Nazi and Communist tyrannies.

They are more dangerous to our

liberties than outright traitors." When the scientist arrived at the Chabaffy apartment, the two friends didn't waste much time with preliminaries.

Ann, at a hint

from Tibor, took Ellen out shopping and the two Chabaffys were alone to greet him. "Ede, I'd like you to meet my son Imre, who was in Budapest only a week ago.

He had to escape on foot, after putting up a

terrific battle against the Russian takeover for nearly three years as one of the leaders of the Union Party

But please be

seated." Tibor lit a cigar and,

after offering one to his guests,

continued:

-85-

"He chanced to corne across some information just before his escape which I believe to be of first importance to America's national security.

I 'll let him tell you his own story. II

The great scientist looked straight in front of him, listening to Imre's account in silence.

When on occasion he failed to

catch a phrase or word due to the young man's fast delivery, he asked him to repeat a sentence here and there.

By the mobile

light that shone in Teller's large eyes and by his absorbed

S1-

lence,Tibor realized that his son's report had a deep effect. After Imre finished talking,

and Teller, muttering several

"terrible ll comments, he continued bluntly: "Terrible, but no incredible!

You know,

of course,

about

Fuchs, the scientist from England who worked with us and gave our secrets away to the Russians!

And then there is Oppenheimer. II

IIA disgrace, II declared Tibor. Nazis. II

Leaning towards Imre,

fighting against the Nazis.

"The real danger is not the

he went on.

The Nazi menace

IIHere we are still 1S

the deadly menace, is Communism, the Russians.

gone!

The menace,

Most people here

still believe they are bastions of democracy!" III ' m afraid we are very much in the minority, we who believe in what you have just said." Gesticulating wildly,

the Magyar exiles went on in this

doleful vein for another hour or so. experiences to Dr. Teller,

Imre related some of his

and Tibor thundered about American

complacency. In parting, the scientist shook Imre's hand.

-86-

liAs long as we have champions of freedom like you, faith in our future. is.

I have

Thank you for bringing this news, sad as it

I III see to it that the appropriate people are informed.

-87-

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN MISPRISON OF TREASON

[ Treason and murder ever kept together. Shakespeare During his office, treason was no crime. Dryden Misprison of treason: Neglecting to disclose or purposely concealing a treasonable design. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]

157.

After his lunch with Mausie, Ian returned to his room. stood in front of the dresser mirror.

He was surprised to find he

looked exactly the same as he had the day before. He was flattered by the attention he had received from the Viennese society.

The young women liked his charm and attraction.

His acquaintances regarded him as a handsome war victim and a graceful dancer and the older generation as one of the best matches in town.

All this had come as a welcome surprise.

-88-

After the loss

of his hair he had felt, despite Tonus' assurances to the contrary, that he had lost his masculine attraction; really, in the bottom of his heart, he had given up on ever finding a suitable woman as a life-long partner. He still loved Maria, of course. off.

But she was such a long way

Her romance with a commander of the Polish Home Army had

nearly shattered him when the realization that it had actually happened had finally sunk into him - mercifully much later than when he had first heard about it.

Despite all this, his first

love still had an irresistible pull: he simply couldn't get Maria out of his mind.

Ian still dreamed about her.

On the other hand, Mausie' s admiration for him was undisguised. her.

Ian didn't need Imre's advice about being cautious with

She was an attractive enough girl and had true Viennese

vivaci ty which was utterly captivating. made comparisons.

But unconsciously Ian

Mausie didn't have Maria I s luminous softness

and passionate warmth. And then - she didn't have the Dresden figurine beauty and glorious eyes of Tonus. Ever since the incident at the Matternich palace Ian had felt he was being swept along by a tide over which he didn't have much control.

When he had agreed, only a few hours ago, to the engage-

ment, it had come out in an oblique fashion -- not at all in the romantic way of his dreams.

He hadn't been able to bring himself

to say "I love you" to Mausie.

Those words, which had come so

easily in Maria's and even Tonus' company, he hadn't been able to force from his lips when faced by Mausie.

-89-

He was searching his

soul for an answer which kept eluding him.

The fact that she was

the widow of a convicted war criminal actually made her appear more romantic.

Her appeal to him was enormously enhanced by her

friendship to Raoul -next to Imre, the ultimate hero of his youth. Fortunately, he had proposed a month of waiting.

But in his heart

he really knew the month was going to pass quickly and that nothing would change during that month as far as Mausie was concerned. Imre and Ellen's arrival had brought a well-connected officer to Ian's side.

His name was Anthony Pitcairn-Montrose.

A major

in the Black Watch regiment during the war, he was now personal assistant to the Commissioner, the highest ranking British official in Austria.

His great energy was channelled into auto racing - he

drove Alfa Romeos.

When he had needed a replacement for his

second driver, who had become sick at the last moment, for a race in Italy,

Ian had volunteered.

The two had soon become good

friends: Ian liked the easy manner of the wealthy career diplomat, and Tony liked I an's romantic background and boyish charm. He was good at spotting proteges who would help his career. Here chance had given him the occasion of taking a young officer under his wing, and he did so with his customary energy. Ian,

Helping

he widened his contacts with the circle which conferred

success in the British establishment. Tony, how had just returned from the Foreign Office in London, approached Brigadier McLean, day of his arrival.

the assistant commissioner, on the

In the officer's mess, the mess boy scurried

around unobtrusively, carrying drinks on a small silver tray.

-90-

The

bar was filling up fast, as dinner was about to be served.

Offi-

cers belonging to various regiments and services chatted clustered ~n

small groups around the room. Ian was close to the bar, standing with David Cornwell,

handsome lieutenant in Field Security he had just met.

The two

subalterns were exchanging a few words about memorable victims of half-a-dozen wars both had spent a

great deal of time with.

Cornwell, in the accents of Eton and Oxford, which he expressed with a soft, silky intonation, mentioned an Estonian he had come across that very day.

The Estonian had been imprisoned by the

Germans, then by the Russians, and now by the Americans. used few words to share their experiences.

The two

Both were by nature

more inclined to listen than to talk; and both, because of the nature of their positions, were used to extreme secrecy. The two listened in silence as Tony launched into his carefully phrased account of his visit.

Both tended to admire people

who were readily articulate, and they listened to the young diplomat's performance with quiet amusement.

They couldn't help over-

hearing that Tony studiously abstained from any expression of personal preferences and ideas about the tidbits he communicated until,

by closely observing McLean's face,

he had realized in

which direction his opinions should be moving.

Ian observed with

fascination the game being played between the brigadier and the diplomat.

After all, the senior of the two had advanced to his

present eminent position in the army by playing with others the game Pitcairn-Montrose was now playing so skillfully with him.

-91-

Ian suddenly realized that he would not likely be reaching the higher ranks in the service for the simple reason he considered it beneath his personal values to play such childish games. However,

he was still glad he had accepted Tony's earlier

invitation to race because now it gave him an opportunity to step back and take stock of his relation with Mausie.

Besides,

needed a break from his work, the enormous report he was preparlng on his interrogation of General Vasarhelyi.

The general had taken

Imre's injunction to heart and corne over with masses of information.

Nonetheless, Captain Hitrner was urging Ian to sign off on

his report as quickly as possible.

But Ian insisted his report

was to be a model of excellence, and nothing would induce him to cut corners.

Furthermore, Hitrner obviously didn't look with great

favor on the developing friendship between the English diplomat and Ian.

But Tony was his superior, so, in the end, there was

nothing much he could do about their trip to Italy. When Ian got back from his long weekend in Italy, his onemonth waiting period was over. to become official.

His engagement to Mausie was now

Through Johnny's connections he managed to

get a beautiful antique engagement ring.

As Mausie was officially

a former "enemy sUbject," Ian needed the Commissioner's consent, which Tony obtained without difficulty. Johnny gave the engagement party at his inner-city palace. Many of Ian's friends,

including Tony and Moose, were invited.

The two got into a political discussion with Johnny.

Ian was fond

of dancing and when Johnny's gypsy band - transplanted from his

-92-

former Magyar estates - started to playa slow Viennese waltz, he lost no time escaping from politics. No sooner did he put his arms around Mausie's quivering, supple waist,

feel her body close to his gaze at the round face

framed by brown locks smiling at his, than her vivacity mounted to his head like champagne.

He felt himself rejuvenated, the effects

of his bouts of illnesses falling away.

After a few dances Mausie

begged him to stop so she could catch her breath; only then did he release her.

He stood with her, watching the other couples, who

threw happy and teasing remarks at them. There was only one cloud over Ian's head. It was the explosive information which the Magyar general had brought with him.

He didn't know what to do with it.

Something

told him to omit it from the lengthy report he was preparing on his interrogation. Tony came to his rescue.

In the happy mood he found himself

1n following his engagement party, to Tony.

Ian confided the great secret

Tony immediately took Ian to Skip Calvert, the chief of

intelligence and suggested Skip send a signal to a roommate of his from Oxford,

high up on the Joint Intelligence Committee.

admired the way Tony was handling this delicate assignment.

Ian Once

again, he was managing to appear as a man to all people - to Ian, he was a much-needed, diplomatic problem-solver; to Skip, a harbinger of momentous intelligence who could quickly cut through a lot of red tape.

-93-

Skip Calvert shared his office with Bunny, wife,

major

in intelligence.

having started a chain of events,

Although

his attractive

Ian was nervous for

she managed to put him at ease

by chatting with him about his forthcoming marriage while her husband and Tony worked on the top-secret signal. There was something about Bunny's manner which not only put Ian at ease but also encouraged confidences. "I hear you got a big fish," she switched to the general, after exhausting the subject of his engagement.

She looked straight

into Ian's eyes with a disarming smile. "I've got it!" I an exclaimed suddenly.

"I almost forgot to

tell Skip and Tony." "What is it?" Bunny kept smiling encouragingly. "Ulan told me

(Ulan was the general's code name) that the

Russians are having a remarkable run of luck catching our agents in Magyarland!" The text of the signal was a model of circumspection.

It was

classified as highly important, but the rating was qualified with "reliability unknown."

It was signed,

of course, by the chief.

When Tony and Ian left their room, Bunny turned to Skip: "Darling,

book a seat on tomorrow's flight to London.

Ian

gave me some information which we can't trust to the scrambler and not even to a Topsec signal!" Tony, Ian found out much later, sent a separate signal to his former classmate in London, advising him about the dispatch of the signal but carefully avoiding any reference to its subject.

-94-

was Tony's way of making sure that he, Tony, was getting credit for this priceless information. A few hours later a signal came back from London requesting full details. In the meantime, Mausie went ahead at full speed with her wedding preparations.

Tony managed to "wangle" a delightful house

close to Schonbrunn Palace for Ian and his bride. Since Mausie had been married before, the customary long interval between engagement and wedding was dispensed with.

Only

three weeks after their engagement, as soon as the house became available, the date of the wedding was set: March fifteenth, in the year 1946.

Ian was insistent on a Protestant ceremony, and in

this he had the backing of the Commissioner and Tony.

Mausie,

deliriously happy about getting married to Ian, obtained her Roman Catholic parents' reluctant consent. The wedding took place in the chapel of the Schonbrunn Palace. Moose woke Ian up with a bottle of champagne on his wedding day, which the two proceeded to have for breakfast.

Ian was happiest

when he greeted Atilla, who had come with Veronka from Amalfi, where they had settled down in a seaside villa after the Russian takeover of Magyarland. second child. Imre,

Veronka was five months pregnant with her

That didn't prevent her from giving I an a big hug.

Ian's best man, was the only member of the Chabaffy

clan who could come.

He brought a princely wedding gift from the

Schwarzes with him: a complete Herend china service for twelve, in Ian's favorite Rothschild bird pattern.

-95-

The newlyweds were over-

whelmed by the generosity of their families and friends.

silver,

linen, furniture, antiques, portraits of their ancestors, old maps and hunting prints were among the many gifts received. Tony lent Ian one of his Alfa-Romeos for the wedding trip, which took them to South-Tyrol and Venice.

Mausie's uncle had a

picturesque and dilapidated castle in South-Tyrol and he tactfully moved out for ten days to leave the newlyweds to themselves. The wedding couch - the only bed to be found in their suite was an excruciatingly uncomfortable narrow bed. Snow was still clinging onto the mountains, and the air was eXhilaratingly crisp.

The two went on long walks down to the

village and al-ong the valley below the castle. them with a full moon.

Venice greeted

The ride along the Grand Canal to the

Hotel Danielli was an amorous haze.

It was impossible not to be

happy amid the silvery waves of the sea, the shouts of the gondoliers and fairy-like palaces and churches lining the canals. Only when Ian got back to Vienna did he realize he had managed to spend two weeks without thinking about Maria and Tonus, and also without writing a single poem. Rusty, the provost marshal who patrolled Vienna's Inner city with British, American, Russian and French soldiers, greeted him on his return. "Too bad about Tony." "What happened?" "His car overturned in his last race in Italy ... killed instantly

The poor chap."

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When Ian went through the backlog of inter-office memos on his desk, he read a terse paragraph about Skip and Bunny's posting to Hong Kong. He was too upset about Tony to perceive the connection.

158.

Palmer Owen Guy Ryth was pacing up and down his office. Occasionally he chewed at his unlit pipe and wrinkled his forehead in a frown. His office was buried in the vastness of the governmental labyrinth of Whitehall, ground station. accomplishments.

not far from the st. James Park under-

At thirty-four he could look back on solid career After graduating from Cambridge, he had joined

the staff of The Times.

His first important assignment had been

to cover the civil War in Spain.

In 1938, he had been sent to

Vienna for a spell, where he had witnessed the Nazi takeover.

year later, when war broke out allover Europe, he had gotten a job with British Intelligence and served briefly at the Paris and Lisbon embassies.

In 1941, he had returned to London headquarters,

where he had remained for the rest of the War.

Two years later,

in 1943, he had been put in charge of the greatly enlarged Russian section,

entrusted

with

the

espionage

activities

against all

Russian and Russian-controlled territories west of the Ural Mountain range.

This arena had developed into the key section in the

-97-

Secret Service.

When Russian designs to control Europe and the

rest of the world became

increasingly evident in the closing

stages of the war, Ryth had been looked upon as the man who might one day become the chief of the famous British Secret Service. The fame of the Service was not only deserved in its own right, but had also been fostered by some of the best-known writers in the English language: Wheatley,

Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Dennis

Rudyard Kipling,

Compton Mackenzie,

Lawrence Durrell;

Ian Fleming and John Le Carre would soon join the list.

All had

been involved with the Service in their formative years,

living

life on the borderland of fantasy and fiction. Ryth was the son of an Anglican bishop. Amanda,

He was married to

daughter of Lord Fairborough, the Chinless Wonder.

was his second wife; no one remembered his first. Ryth had three children. he owned in Sussex. eyes,

She

Nicknamed Pogo,

He commuted to work from a small estate

He was below average in height,

had grey

thick eyebrows, thick, straight brown hair above a narrow

forehead and a vagabond charm often associated with people who like their drink.

His Cambridge accent was marred by a stammer

which became more pronounced when he was under pressure.

This

speech defect endeared him to his colleagues and brought out the protective

instincts of women.

However,

he would occasionally

suprise his friends with a vigorous repartee uttered without the slightest trace of a stammer. scores and racing results. stincts took him.

He avidly followed the cricket

That was as far as his sporting in-

He was, unsurprisingly, a rather sensitive man

-98-

who had a surprisingly pronounced distaste for politics, or so his friends thought,

as he carefully avoided expressing a political

opinion to subordinates and superiors alike. That reluctance to engage in political discussion was not at all surprising considering the fact that he was the Kremlin's top agent in the British Secret Service. In Vienna in 1948, he had been briefly married to a beautiful Bulgarian woman, an ardent Communist. Vienna was also the home of Colonel Alfred Redl, who had been the

chief

counter-espionage of the Austro-Magyar Military

Intelligence Service a generation earlier.

He had been also a

secret agent of Russia, the main target of Austro-Magyar Intelligence. Thirty

years

later,

the

Russians

repeated procedures

recrui ting Ryth and instructing him to penetrate the British Secret Service.

The

recruiter was

tailor

and organizer of

Communist cells.

He was Gabor Peter, who became the boss of the

Russian Secret Police in Magyarland after the Russian occupation in 1945. Thus treachery played an intriguing role as a great equalizer in Europe during the mid-twentieth century. a

pillar of the

British Empire,

In 1944, when Churchill,

betrayed one-hundred million

people to the mercies of Stalin in a matter of minutes on a single scrap of paper, treachery planted an arch-traitor called Pogo Ryth in the citadel of the British Empire, hastening its sunset as much as Colonel Redl had hastened the downfall of the Habsburg Empire at the beginning of the century.

-99-

As a Russian spy, Ryth could look back to other impressive achievements.

In July of 1943, he had engineered the murder of

General Sikorski, the leader of the Polish Home Army, on a flight from Gibraltar to London.

In 1944, he had managed to delay Andy's

departure from Italy to Magyarland.

He also tipped off the Gestapo

about Andy's arrival through an underground Communist cellmate of Gabor's.

Then, when Pogo had become head of the Russian section

of the British Secret Service he had moved into big times. 1948,

when Ian was working in Vienna, he had already given the

Russians the name, cover-name, location, description and Kapiska of every British agent in the field.

That was the reason Howard

had been forced to ask Imre to make his own arrangements for escape.

The only reason all of them had not been caught was that

the Russians hadn't wanted suspicion to point towards Ryth. But on March 15, 1948, the day Ian was married, Ryth had much to be agitated about.

His carefully built-up edifice of misprison

of treason was ready to collapse like a house of cards. Back from a short holiday, Ryth was working late into the night.

Among the top secret signals, he found the copy of the

message sent by Skip to London about the leakage of atomic secrets to the Russians.

In another file,

passenger list of a flight,

he found Skip's name on the

from Vienna to London, the day after

the signal was sent. Pogo had no time to lose.

He couldn't risk the possibility

that Ulan might have disclosed some other highly sensitive information.

If he was placed high enough to know about that,

-100-

undoubtedly must have heard about a highly placed Russian agent in London Center as well. He soon found out that Skip had been tipped off by Tony and that Ulan had been interrogated by one Lieutenant Campbell. knew he had little time to forestall his downfall. clearance from his Russian controller in England -

Ryth

After getting he was too

important an agent to be left to his own initiative - he asked his boss, a former admiral, to transfer him into the new field. years of staff work,

he felt he was entitled to a change.

asked for the directorship in Vienna.

After He

There he could kill several

birds with one stone: displace Skip and Bunny from the scene, take care of the others and remove himself from London before the string of bad luck involving British agents in the field would be investigated.

His next move was to hand copies of all important

material he could lay his hands on at London Center to his Russian contact.

He also persuaded his wife to stay in England until the

end of the children's school term. The next step was to eliminate Tony by having a Communist mechanic sabotage his racing car. He also initiated some preliminary inquiries on Ulan.

The

reports he got back about Ulan increased his fear of disclosure even more.

His original recruiter,

Gabor,

now police chief in

Budapest, revealed that the Magyar defector was the senior artillery officer of his army and that he had attended a seminar in Moscow for the artillery chiefs of all Satellite arml.es a few months earlier.

It was undoubtedly there that the general had

picked up the information about the leak of atomic secrets. also reported several other items on Ulan:

Gabor

he appeared to have

prepared his defection with care; he had left with masses of secret and confidential material; and his safe had been found empty when the political police searched his office.

Intensive

preliminary inquiries in Magyarland brought an unexpected bonus. The general had a sweetheart who did not defect with him to Austria. The authorities didn't know her whereabouts, but a police hunt was initiated to tract her down. Ryth was equally concerned by what he had read in Lieutenant Ian Campbell's file.

Not only was his mother a member of the

Magyar elite, but he also belonged to the notorious Chabaffy clan, the number-one target on his master hit list.

After Wallenberg,

tne Chabaffys had become the Kremlin's top priority. days, Ryth had more bad news.

Within a few

He found out that all survivors of

the clan had fled even before the general had defected. During his flight to Vienna, Pogo, the agent who had worked both sides, planned and plotted how to eliminate Ian and the high-ranking Magyar defector. By the time his plane had landed at the military airport in the British section of Vienna, he had it all worked out.

-102-

159.

Ian was glad to be back in harness after his honeymoon.

soon as he had digested the file material accumulated during his absence, he was on a train to Graz. He found Ulan in a dejected mood. "I have nothing to do.

It drives me mad," he said after the

preliminary greetings. "I have been away." "I remember you told me ... honeymoon."

Ian instructed the

sergeant on guard to stand by and report on phone calls and any visi tors.

Again the two talked in Magyar.

"Had any visitors?" "Only the sergeant.

He was good enough to get me an extra

pack of cigarettes every day ... please give me something to do!" he said pleadingly. "I I d like to go over the material you gave me, point by point, and see whether you have anything to add." of his report.

It was over two hundred pages long.

Ian had a copy The two spent

several hours going over every sUbject. The defector added a few details here and there.

In every

respect, though, he generally confirmed what Ian read from his typewritten report. "I I 11 be back tomorrow," Ian said late in the afternoon. "Think hard overnight.

Anything you may have left out, however

-103-

incidental it may be,

any little detail, could be very important

even if it looks quite unimportant to you. II IIMay I have some cigarettes, tOO?1I the general pleaded. The next day Ian was in the cell early in the morning. the days and long hours spent together, friends.

After

the two had become close

Being certain that the other was a genuine defector had

made all sorts of subtle differences to Ian. Intelligence reports Ian signed had a grading rang1ng from A, mean1ng highly reliable,

to F, reliability unknown.

The latter

grading had been used in the short signed report that Skip had sent to London. upgrade

the

But after his talk with Imre, Ian had decided to

reliability rating of this

report to A.

Hitmer closely questioned him on this point.

Captain

Ian kept repeating

that he was convinced Vasarhelyi was a genuine defector and that his high rank and the quality of the information given by him deserved an A. Meanwhile, the general's unhappy mood deepened. incarcerated for over a month by now.

He had been

I an emphasized to him

repeatedly that it was being done to protect him from Russian agents.

Vasarhelyi knew this, of course,

and delicately avoided

pressing Ian for any answers about his future.

Ian had him moved

into the largest cellon the southwest corner of the prison.

But

even that one was only eight meters by four meters in size, very small for a general officer who was used to much more comfortable quarters, even under the new Russian masters.

-104-

During a routine visit, Ian sensed that something was up the general was unusually restless.

He had long since learned

that getting information out of defectors was not unlike fishing for trout in Scotland - it required infinite patience. felt the fish was nibbling tentatively at the bait.

Now he

The best

stance was to let the reel out and sit back waiting for the fish to bite. It bit very soon.

The general stopped pacing, lit another

cigarette and sat down on his bunk bed.

He reached under the

pillow, fished out a snapshot, the only one he had, and held it in his hand. "There is something important I wish to confide in you,"

said at last. Ian smiled but didn't say anything.

The general put out his

cigarette with great care so that he could relight it later and wordlessly handed over the snapshot.

Ian let out a low shistle.

It was the photograph of a nude woman with a stunning figure.

The

smile on her face showed that her lover had taken the picture and that she wanted to communicate her love and desire for him in that smile.

Only women deeply in love can smile like that, tantalizing

yet inviting, without becoming coy or provocative. came over Ian.

A hot flush

He had seen such a perfect body and such love in a

smile when he had looked at Maria, just before falling into her arms.

In an instant he understood the general's real source of

restlessness.

Deprivation.

-105-

"She is my fiancee.

Isn't she beautiful?"

He managed to

convey the strong Magyar passion he felt for her in a delicate way - merely by the tone of his voice. "She is, II admitted Ian.

"Where is she?"

IIThat is what I wanted to talk about," he replied.

He relit

his cigarette and continued with an intensity that Magyar men are particularly good at expressing when talking about the women they love. "She is back in Magyarland." "Why didn't you bring her with you!?" I an asked sharply. "I left her home because she couldn't come with me. " "Why not?1I A cloud of regret passed over the general's eyes. "Her mother is terminally ill ... cancer ... combined with a weak heart the street couldn't ... "

her father is in Russian captivity ... taken off at the end of the war

Marishka felt she

The words tumbled out of his mouth in short stac-

catos, more and more quietly as he went on. "Her mother became seriously ill only a few days before our planned escape ... she got word ... near the Transylvanian border ... only remaining child delay my departure

Her mother lives far away

They were very close

the

I couldn't persuade her ... and I couldn't I knew ... I got a tip-off ...

the Secret

Police were concluding an investigation on my background ... "

-106-

"Did she realize the danger she was putting herself in by remaining behind

the fiancee of the highest-ranking defector

we have had since the end of the war?" exclaimed I an. "Marishka is confidence.

clever woman," countered Vasarhelyi with

"She said she'd follow me ... That's why I had to

talk with you ...

She might be here in Graz already, looking for

me ... can you understand ... if she's here ... looking for me ... and I ... " He didn't finish the sentence. He recognized in his passionate longing for her his own deep longing for Maria during the Nazi occupation, after that luminous Easter spent together.

Now he wished he had stayed with her ...

If "What is her name? managed to say.

And please give me a description," he

Ian looked at the photograph and handed it back

to the general. "I don't think I want to use this

" he said when Vasarhelyi

replaced it under his pillow. "Now, please tell me exactly where you think she is now

where her mother lives and where else she might be ... everything said Ian urgently. For the next half hour,

in the exacting tradition of his

service, the general gave a full briefing on Marishka. "I assure you," declared Ian when he had finished, "we'll do everything in our power to get her over here!"

He didn't have the

heart to tell him that, following Imre and the general's escape, the security along the Austrian-Magyar border had been further

-107-

reinforced on the Communist side:

watch towers with search lights

had been erected, barbed wire fences built and fields mined in order to make defection even more difficult. He didn't tell the general either that he was resolved to volunteer to undertake this dangerous assignment himself.

Nothing

less was at stake than an unmistakable action which would show the Magyars that at least the British Secret service could be counted upon to take care of those who had performed signal services for His Majesty's Government.

160.

Post-war Vienna was the birthplace of flitting shadows melting into the night. The Austrian capital was sliced into five parts.

The center,

known as the Inner City, with the Imperial palaces, art museums, great hotels and governmental buildings, had fittingly been declared an international sector and as such was governed jointly by the four occupiers - the Americans, the British, the Russians and the French.

The other four parts of Vienna were controlled indi-

vidually. It was a perfect place for Pogo Ryth, the new director of the British Secret Service in Austria, to meet his new Russian contact man without being noticed.

By virtue of his position, Pogo was

not likely to be shadowed by any Western agents;

-108-

and being a

recent arrival, he had not yet been noticed by the largely ineffectual local police. Ryth's meeting with his Russian master was set for Monday, the day after his arrival, at 7:55 p.m., in the grand hall of the Spanish Riding School. As he walked in a leisurely pace towards the hall, Ryth wondered what changes he would find in vienna after ten years of absence.

This was the place where Gabor had recruited him, where

he had been married for the first time.

It was here that he had

read Kafka, Werfel, Rilke, von Hoffmannstal, Marx, Engels, Freud and Adler. capi tal

Immediately before Hitler's annexation of Austria, the

had been a center of exciting intellectual ferment.

Vienna was a sort of central European Left Bank in whose fringes Pogo delighted to operate.

It was true that little had come out

of vienna musically - the Vienna of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert,

Bruckner,

the Strauss dYnasty and Lehar - since the

collapse of the Habsburg empire.

There were many compensations,

however, like the postage-stamp-size cabarets which Pogo liked to frequent, the home of the Austrians' devastating, razor-sharp wit. He planned to visit the simplicissimus cabaret, the scene of his first night out with his future wife. Punctually at 7:51 p.m., Ryth entered the Riding Hall.

was packed, for at eight o'clock a performance of the Lippizzaners would begin.

Lights from two enormous chandeliers danced,

and

along the walls rows of lights blazed down its hundred-meter length.

It had been built by the younger of the Fischer von

-109-

Erlachs, the celebrated baroque architects. had not touched the imposing edifice.

Ryth noticed the war

This was the place where

the Empress Maria Theresa had held great court balls, carousels and

fabulous

fancy-dress . parties

of glorious splendor.

Here

Beethoven had conducted a massed orchestra of one thousand musicians in 1814, and here in 1848 the first assembly of the Austrian parliament had taken place. This, thought Ryth with a sardonic smile, was also the meeting place of the world's foremost double agent with the representative of the world's largest intelligence service, dedicated to the conquest of the world. At precisely 7:55 p.m., he sat down in his seat in the front row, facing one of the large crystal chandeliers, across from the principal box.

He wondered who his new master would be.

The one

in London could have passed for an Englishman, impeccably dressed, with an impeccable Etonian accent. At eight o'clock the double doors under the painting depicting Charles VI on a Lipizzaner stallion were thrown open.

Eight

magnificent steeds, riders perfectly straight, paced imperially and lined up in front of the imperial box.

The brown tricorns

were raised and put back over dedicated faces with a single sweep of the arm.

When everyone's attention was concentrated on the

"Festive Entrance" struck up by the hidden orchestra, Ryth felt a movement in the air next to him.

without looking to his left, he

knew that his new master had lowered himself on the seat located conveniently close to one of the exits.

The riders led their horses to the first number: Paces and Movements of the High School.

All the

To Ryth, the riders, with

their double rows of glittering brass buttons, white breeches and high black boots and rigid faces topped by dark brown Redingotes, looked like toy soldiers.

He preferred the look of the impeccably

groomed, plump, silken-soft horses. The exhibition started with easy exercises, limping trots and sideway chasses,

which gradually tracked up the perfectly raked

ground of tanbark and sawdust.

These were followed by the more

elaborate Piaffe at the Wall and Levades.

The control of the

snaffle gradually began to tighten and the curb was introduced. In the far corner, near the imperial box, one stallion performed a magnificent capriole.

Ryth leaned forward so he could observe at

even closer range the elegant curve of the horses' necks as they arched further back by the riders I

taut use of the reins.

observed a trace of foam on the jaws and brown eyes full of concentration and nervous energy. intricate series of stops,

He also noticed that,

after each

the riders relaxed their steeds and

allowed them to prance gracefully the full length of the field in a beauteous trot. Ryth thought wistfully that he himself had never been allowed such a grace period of relaxation, even after the most difficult operations! however,

He didn't have much time

to reflect on himself,

because Pas de Trois was followed by Work in Hand and

Work on the Rein.

And then it was the final act.

The band played music by Bizet and Chopin as all eight horses moved in solemn arabesques. perfectly chosen -

Yes, mused Pogo,

like his Russian masters, the Spanish Riding

School did not tolerate any exuberance. martial "Austrian Granadiers, time.

the occasion was

The band struck up the

as the team lined up for the last

The tricorns were again raised and put back over dedicated

faces with a single sweep of the arm, and the Lipizzaners were filed through the double doors by means of clinking spurs, the aura of authority and discipline floating in their wake. Authority and discipline, Russia.

the guiding principles of Mother

Turning to his left, Ryth beheld the elegant profile of

Major General Pushkin who, as a young colonel, had been so full of compliments about Ellen when he had first set eyes on her in Debrecen only a few years earlier. "Maestoso," he heard him whisper. "pluto, II replied Pogo, not a bit louder. After the exchange of these passwords,

the names of famed

Lipizzaner stallions, the pair exchanged two more: II

Favoury,

said the general.

"Conversano," acknowledged Ryth. The connection established,

the two conspirators allowed

themselves a tentative smile. The pair slowly got up, and began to walk in measured steps, as the steeds before them had, towards the exit.

Jostled by the

crowd, the two Russian agents used each even sentence as a piece of trivial conversation, and each odd one as a message.

-112-

"My first act needs immediate attention," the man from London started out. "Listen to the violins," continued the officer from Moscow. "That will improve the act." "Wunderbar." "The new script calls for uS1.ng the general's mistress as a bait

"A masterpiece." "

and abduct the general when he passes through Italy to

his final homeland." "A musical comedy full of action." "We have a deadline for the new script.

It needs approval by

Friday. " "50 much haste

After a long pause, which led them behind the imperial box, the Moscovite broke the silence: "Not until you find five pebbles l.n the stone urn north of the central fountain of 5chonbrunn will the new script have received our approval." The distance between the two imperceptibly increased until Ryth lost sight of his new supervisor. As he was leaving the elegant Riding Hall still full of people, laughter and conversation, the English double-agent noticed that the only trace of color in all its whiteness was the wine-red plush on the balustrades.

He mused that the classical virginity

of the whitewash in the vast hall represented the nobility of his

-113-

endeavor, the red the unwavering resolution and perfect planning behind it.

161.

"Ian,

need to talk to you.

Please come in!"

captain

Hitmer was smiling in a way Ian had not seen him smile before, full

of amiability and kindness.

office.

Hitmer was more often visiting Ian's, which was smaller

but more comfortable. and a

He was rarely 1.n his boss'

The captain's was dominated by a large sofa

certain pomposity trying to rise above the nondescript

furni ture

and the curtained-off wall.

A large riding crop,

holdover from his Indian Police service, rested across his desk. "Please be seated."

It was obvious he was trying to allay

any apprehensions his subordinate might be feeling.

But the more

Ian smiled, the more guarded he was really becoming.

That caution,

invisible to others because it was such an ingrained habit, had, of course, been ingrained by his experience in Russian captivity. Captain Hitmer, picking up the crop from his desk, sat down and put it across his knees.

He leaned back comfortably in his

chair. "Are you entering the district tennis championships? ...

You

play tennis, don't you?" Ian wondered how the captain had found out about his passion for tennis and replied:

"I haven't considered it yet ... occurred to me. II

Frankly, the idea had not

The conversation between the two continued in

this stilted vein for several minutes before the captain sprung a question at Ian: "You've become quite good friends with Ulan, haven't yoU?1I III've come to admire him, II he replied uncertainly.

IIWe have

spent a great deal of time together. II Ills he quite content?1I IIReasonably so.

He has been under lock and key for over a

month, and he must have questions about his future. 1I II That '11 be taken care of, II the captain assured him easily. IIHas someone told him SO?II IIWe are working to get him to Canada or New Zealand with a new identity.

The trouble is, we haven't got any money in our

budget to settle him either place.

Right now, London is looking

for a sponsor who'll take care of him.

As you can imagine, that

is not easy as his qualifications are rather

specialized. II

IIWe could take him into our confidence and let him know what we are doing, II remarked I an. liDo you think he'd have any reservations?1I Ian hesitated.

It was up to him to convey to Hitmer the

general's wish to have his fiancee join him; in fact, it was up to him to disclose her existence.

Hitmer immediately noticed that he

had something on his mind which he was having difficulty expressing. "Go on," he said encouragingly. lIyou may need to work on two visas rather than one, II Ian finally blurted out. -115-

"What do you mean?" asked Hi tmer, feigning perfect astonishment. "He is waiting for his fiancee to join him," said Ian after a slight pause. "Fiancee? Why wasn't I informed of this before?" "He mentioned her for the first time only yesterday." "Does he expect us to get her out?" said Hi tmer,

leaning

forward. "He thinks she can do it on her own. she might be down in Graz already. her.

In fact, he believes

He asked our help in finding

I checked with the Field Security people and also the Aus-

trian police, and so far, they haven't come up with anything.

But

it's a bit early to tell." "Did you give them full particulars?" "Of course." "Drop me a short paragraph today giving me those details." "Yes, sir!" Hitmer adjusted his glasses. "I have a proposition in mind," he said at length, trying to make the impression he was giving this thought consideration for the first time then and there.

"Please weigh it carefully.

You

may not wish to do it" - and here he put on an ironic smile "considering you have just gotten married ... " "What is it?" Ian was eager for adventure. "It might mean a promotion for you," said the captain. "Really?" Ian was even more eager.

-116-

"A third pip, and confirmation of permanent status in your present rank.

Translated, that meant a promotion to captain on a

temporary basis and confirmation of his present rank, which Ian held "temporarily, II according to British Army practice. II

I'm interested, Sir. II

"You know that with the new security measures along the border," Hi tmer continued,

"she hasn't got a chance of getting

through without a guide. II

He took off his glasses, elaborately

cleaning them with a white handkerchief he had pulled out of his breast pocket.

The two suddenly changed roles.

Now Ian became

encouraging, and Hitmer appeared to be reluctant. "Mind you, this occurred to me just now. it seriously, nonetheless."

I'm thinking about

His German accent came to the surface

when he talked in such a calculating way. "I understand." "Would you like to bring her out?" "Me? II Ian was astonished.

That had been his secret project S1nce

he had seen that deep longing in the general's eyes the day before now that secret wish had just fallen into his lap. believe his luck.

He couldn't

In his enthusiasm and spontaneous wish to help,

he dropped his caution. "I'd love to do it!

He heard himself continue: II

"Mind you, I have to get all kinds of clearances. the language, you know the country, don't you?" "0f course.

-117-

You speak

"I wouldn't consider sending you alone.

Have someone along

who knows the border intimately." "That would be a great help." "Think about it." "I will." "Don't think too long, as we haven't got much time to waste. Actually,

it will be extremely fortunate if she hasn't already

been caught by the political police over there." "She was visiting her mother in eastern Magyarland, when the general ... " "Don't ever talk about

'general',"

the captain cut in

sharply. "Sorry, Sir! "It is

for

his

safety

"Hi tmer

continued reprovingly.

Then his face suddenly brightened up, and he added cheerfully: "The brass at the Center liked your report." "Thank you,

Sir!1I

Ian was nonplussed.

This was the first

time Captain Hitmer had praised him for anything.

In fact, he had

never seen him in such a good mood before. The captain put the riding crop back on the desk as he got up, signifying that the meeting was over. "We'll issue you with Magyar clothing before your trip, you decide to go ...

Lieutenant Campbell, not a word about our

little talk to anyone." "Not even to my wife?" "Absolutely no one!"

-118-

The

captain liked to exercise his

authority.

His

chest

swelled a bit as he continued: "ls that understood?" "Yes, Sir!" "And don't forget to drop that memo by before you go home tonight ... with top secret classification, of course. II After Ian had left, he stepped up to the oversized ordinance map of the Magyar-Austrian border. studied it for a while.

He drew its curtain aside and

When he judged that Ian was back in his

office and had had time to settle down behind his desk, Hitmer pulled back the curtain and grabbed his crop off the top of his desk as he left his office. trousers with it.

He started tapping the side of his

He walked to the other end of the Schonbrunn

Palace and stopped 1n front of an unmarked door.

He knocked on it

lightly with four short raps. When he heard the answering "Come in,

he poked his head

through the door and announced: "0ur boy is not just nibbling at the bait, Sir. "Ex ... Exc ...

Very good.

162.

In the end,

it all worked perfectly,

according to plans.

Veronka was able to come up from Amalfi on the Mediterranean, and Ian down from Lubeck on the North Sea.

-119-

Mausie and the baby were

staying with her parents, waiting to join him in Germany as soon as Ian had married quarters available.

Atilla was away in North

Africa on a business trip for his export-import company. Both Veronka and Ian, for widely differing reasons, needed to get away and had decided to spend a weekend together in a small village outside of Innsbruck. It was not that Veronka really liked to run away from her family for a few days. Possibly she did not.

She was not sure if she liked it or not. She was a luminous woman because she liked

and loved her husband, giving him her unwavering devotion.

Yet,

to be able to cope with her pregnancies, her confinements, the bringing up of her sons and the pulse of her husband's life, she felt she had to maintain a few very special relationships.

the one she had with Ian, which predated her relationship with Atilla. Ian marveled at her many-sided beauty, but at the same time he was grateful there was a facet of its precious brilliance which only the two of them experienced.

Reflecting its nature in each

other made both of their lives deeper and richer to an extraordinary degree.

A year, even a decade, might intervene between these

mutual sharings, but time elapsed could not dim this luminosity. The two cousins loved each other unconditionally. to drink from that fountain of love now.

His spirit was broken.

It had all happened so imperceptibly and so fast. had felt on top of the world.

Ian needed

A year ago he

He had enjoyed his work, fascinated

by the discoveries of each new day,

-120-

good humor letting him laugh

at the absurdities of military life.

He had been absorbed in his

new home.

Even his game of tennis had been a source of deep

pleasure.

He had been delighted by people and places and by the

new life he had been able to carve out after the loss of his fortune, position and home.

He had freely indulged in fantasies

about his very own hunting ground on the border of fact and fiction, dreams and realities. The

inexplicable nature of the drastic shift fretted him

endlessly, yet his questions remained unanswered, with no solution in sight.

He was almost afraid to let his thoughts roam freely,

yet he could not rid himself of them. Only Veronka could have been the catalyst for clearing the cobwebs and the self-sprung traps out of his mind. Their needs matured simultaneously.

Their weekend came about

effortlessly in that spring of 1948. He thought his cousin looked even more beautiful than she had at his wedding.

The two took long walks on the paths criss-crossing

the flower-carpeted meadow on which the small Gasthaus stood. Walking arm in arm with Veronka, inhaling the peace flowing out of her and surrounding them,

Ian began to see clearly once

again. "Because I married her!" he exclaimed suddenly.

Wise in her

many ways, Veronka didn't utter a word, only pressed his forearm by way of encouragement. "Because I married Mausie without loving her," he went on slowly.

"I betrayed both of us -

-121-

myself and her.

remember

I love you, the one and

exactly the moment I spoke these words: only time.

I found them so difficult to get through my lips! II

Ian continued faster and faster: II It all started them. turn.

It was then that I took the wrong

I walked out of the light which I had first experienced as

a child, when I was left alone in the church on the citadel and I was illuminated with the presence of God. II Ian bent down,

plucked a snowdrop and gave it to Veronka.

The sun blazed on them momentarily, having found a crack in the steady succession of billowing clouds.

She looked with pained

amazement at the bony, sad, fateful face of her favorite cousin, the worn likeness of their angel age. IIDon I t

blame yourself, II

she said in the whispers of the

spring wind. IIYes, my angel,1I he answered eagerly, lIit all started then. When I said those words to Mausie.

I felt at the time that it was

not right, that it was all wrong doing it. II He put her arm in his, and they resumed their walk in measured steps. II I betrayed my own divine poetic trust! trai tor of my own genius ...

I was a ... I am a

What a treachery! II

Repeating himself

he added: II I knew at the time I had no right to do it.

And so it

turned out as it did, with amazing swiftness. II liMy

angel, II

Veronka

IIStop lacerating yourself!

countered with

decreasing timidity.

You know I have made some inquiries

about Mausie I s family ... II -122-

"Quite distinguished

"Of course ... there 1S a touch of opportunism there.

Some-

one heard her mother boast about the catch Mausie had made, capturing you and marrying into the Chabaffy clan. there,

particularly

after

that unfortunate

No exaggeration

first marriage

hers." "

when she was 1n Budapest," Ian cut in, rising to his

wife's defense, "she blackmailed her husband ... to help the Jews. Very few people know how much she really did help Raoul ... " "There are some rumors

I heard about Mausie' s

infatuation

wi th him!" "Absolutely untrue!

That's a ...

a fabrication,"

said Ian

hotly. "You've always been such a gentleman," Veronka was smiling at him coquettishly. "But it's true!

... I mean untrue!"

"I sn' t she older than you?" "Only by two years."

Veronka let that pass.

They continued this conversation during dinner. "It really started out so well," remarked Ian when their soup bowls were removed. generous friends, trip

"We got a lovely house,

thoughtful wedding gifts,

and we had such a marvelous wedding

except for the bed at her uncle's castle." "Was it ... ?"

uncomfortable, narrow and hard

"Just like ours?"

-123-

"Really?" The cousins broke into delighted laughter. "And then ... " "What happened?" Veronka asked, as she put some salt on her hunter-style cutlet. "All went well until my review. officer reviews one's record -

Every year the commanding

a sort of report card.

My first

year's report was due soon after we had gotten married.

To my

amazement I got a terrible report." "What did it say?" "Nothing specific.

Unorthodox methods.

supervision, that sort of thing. didn't like me to Klagenfurt,

Lazy.

Needs strong

My commanding officer obviously

so I was transferred, unexpectedly, from Vienna to do some dreary field security work.

had

barely settled down and gotten a house when I was posted to Germany." Ian drank some beer, not even tasting it, and continued: "Fancy!

Three moves in one year.

she couldn't grow any roots.

Mausie complained bitterly;

Then she had a particularly difficult

delivery ... We have little money as my pay is rotten.

with my

staff job gone I lost the extra allowance and privileges, like a jeep for my own use.

Mausie didn't know anyone in Klagenfurt.

Now she is saying she 1S not sure she wants to join me in Germany, cut off from her family.

Anyway, all those moves are bad for the

baby. " "She has a point there," remarked Veronka, w1p1ng her lips delicately with the white linen napkin.

-124-

"Of course.

But where does that leave me?

Our sex life went

to hell after her confinement ... a couple of times she slapped me in the face." "How terrible!" "It's true - she's tending to get violent lately." "All those Sicilian ancestors of hers!" Veronka put her hand on his. "All we are talking about is myself," exclaimed Ian.

"Now

tell me about Atilla ... and your sons, Geza and Imre." When dessert was served, Ian commented, in the tone of a man who had just remembered something: "Her biggest complaint is that I didn't get my third pip. " "You've been in the service for such a short time,"

replied

Veronka, touching her fork to the hazelnut torte. "I was promised a promotion to captain in connection with a job I was supposed to do ... though,

angel,"

added Ian,

I can't tell you much about it

fingering his coffee cup.

supposed to find somebody ...

"I was

All rather hush-hush."

"And ... ?" "My job fell through."

Ian offered some milk to her for her

coffee, then poured some into his own cup. "Go on!" "Nothing much to say. up. " "wasn't that good?"

The person we were looking for turned

"Marvelous!

But I didn't get my promotion.

all sorts of things went wrong. II

-126-

From then on,

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT THE SURVIVORS

[ I hear America singing. I see in you, certain to come, the promise of thousands of years, till now deferr'd, Promise'd to be fulfull'd Walt Whitman]

163.

Imre enjoyed his week-long rest in Aspen. vacation since his arrival in America.

This was his first

Georgie,

an avid skier,

showed him all the right places, not only on the slopes, but also apres-ski. The two had become even closer friends in America.

Both

worked on Wall Street, lived in the same apartment building and shared the same girls.

Thanks to a few well-placed investments

abroad and Georgie's swiss capers in 1943, the Schwarz family had had enough of a nest egg to buy a stake in a Wall Street banking firm, Peabury-Higgenson and Company.

Known for nearly a century

as simply P.R., its initials had the same magic connotation as the J.P. in front of the house of Morgan. reputation,

While it had been long on

it had also been short, temporarily, on capital.

But

wi thGeorgie dabbling in trading and Imre working on arbitrage deals, the firm soon acquired a new nickname: "Power-house" It was controlled by a clutch of septuagenerians, partners who boasted the first names of stanton, Willard, Ransom,

Salem,

Brayton, Watson, Chauncey and Bayard, all descendents of the venerable founders, Cornelius Peabury and Rufus Higgenson. A contemporary character sketch described Peabury as a finanCler who had been particularly successful in putting concerns back on their feet financially; he was successful because he had devoted his ability and large means to "meritorious concerns which were in straits through lack of capital and poor management." By comparison, his partner was "credited with enormous galns ln the stock market in his capacity as chairman of the Sugar Trust." The chronicler went on by stating that his operations had been confined to the shares of the Sugar Trust.

"By dealing in the

shares in the company of whose affairs he had the most intimate knowledge he had practically taken no risk." Georgie's first contact on arriving in New York had been Alfrederic Parker,

the grandson of the worthy Rufus Higgenson,

chairman of the Sugar Trust.

Everybody called him simply Parkey.

He was the senior partner and also president of the Central Union Trust Company of Boston.

He was also brother-in-law of the Swiss

concern's owner, who had bought the Schwarz trainloads of sugar a few years before. These splendid denizens of Wall Street were a bit uneasy with Georgie's unorthodox trading activities.

-128-

To their credit, they

gave him enough rope to mount a daring raid now and then, but not a long enough one to hang the firm and the partners' individual tax-free municipal bond holdings. When Imre had joined the company a year after Georgie, he had started out in arbitrage between the New York and European stock markets,

profiting from the disparity in prices between the two

sides of the Atlantic. Georgie and Imre had been glven bonuses based on a percentage of the firm's profits arising out of their dealings.

It was in

this manner that Imre had been able to accumulate a capital of about $25,000 by the end of 1945, and Georgie close to $100,000. Imre was not content being second to Georgie. would do his utmost to catch up with him. wait until his return to New York.

He decided he

But that would have to

He didn't want to think about

it in Aspen because the market was quiet and calm, and the party he was invited to that night was indeed promising. It was held near the center of the village, ln the house of Nancy Marvel,

a young expatriate from Indianapolis.

Her home had

soft candlelight, superb cocktails, quiet music and sophistication distilled to simplicity. Imre was still on his first drink when a Wall street acqualntance in a cowboy hat joined the crowd. "Hi,

you crazy Magyars!

How are yoU?"

Julien Levi,

still

dressed in a ski outfit, greeted Imre and Georgie. "What are you doing here, back home, Boots?" countered Imre. "Aren't you supposed to have your eyes glued on the tape?"

-129-

Boots

was his nickname on account of his inordinate fondness for custommade boots.

Tonight he had red boots on.

He was a tall, handsome

fellow, an ideal model for high-country cigarette ads. III made my hundred thousand, and it was time to go home,1I he replied. II It's only February! II exclaimed Imre. IIYeah, you know how it is, II replied Boots. hundred thou. rado'.11

II I have made my

I say 'good-by Wall street' and 'Hello Sweet Colo-

Imre looked at him enviously.

He was dreaming of catch-

ing up with Georgie in a year, and here was Boots who had done it in five weeks! Georgie was teasing him:

IIAre you going to count the pine

cones for the next ten months?1I III have something better than that in mind,1I replied Boots, and he settled down next to Nancy, looking her over like a silent movie star staring at the heroine in a bad film. striking blonde.

Nancy was a

When nobody laughed and Nancy inched away from

his oversize hands, Boots announced: II ... even better than ... It'll give us ten times our money by the Fourth of July. II Georgie walked away with feigned disgust. attention.

Imre was full of

Here was his chance to catch up with his best friend.

Nancy got up and moved after Georgie.

She liked his impudent

smile and curly locks. Boots was not discouraged by the loss of two-thirds of his audience:

-130-

"Cocoa, buddy, that's the next game." "Cocoa?" asked Imre in disbelief. "You are a smart fella

Sorry, I forgot your name."

"Imre." "How can anybody call himself something simple like Brilliant?" then went on:

Why don't you change it to He laughed at his own joke,

"Smart fella you are.

those Royal Dutch shares.

I heard what you did in

That ain't no hay!"

If he knows about

my arbitrage, thought Imre, perhaps he knows about cocoa. Boots lit a colossal cigar pulled out of the custom-made pocket of his custom-made shirt. "I'll tell you exactly what to do ...

It's all very simple,

fella," he explained between puffs of choking smoke.

"You call up

your commodity broker if you don't have a membership in the New York Cocoa Exchange ... it's an unregulated market ten percent margin.

One contract,

which means

one thousand dollars.

The

seller promises to deliver to you, say next July, thirty thousand pounds of cocoa, at the current price of fifteen cents." Imre had visions of trainloads of cocoa on Park Avenue. "Cocoa goes to eighteen cents, you double your capital, if it goes up six cents, you triple it." "What goes up, comes down!" replied Imre.

"All it has to go

down is three cents, down to twelve cents and I'm wiped out!" "Don't give me that Magyar bullshit!" replied Boots with flashing eyes. of cocoa!

"But seriously, cocoa can't go down!

We are out

Call me up when you get to New York, and I'll explain

-131-

it blow by blow,

fella!

Cocoa will go to thirty cents,

forty

cents, maybe fifty cents," he continued, warming up to his subject.

"All it has to do is to go to thirty cents, and you have a

six hundred percent profit in six months!

Now I ask you, fella,

where can you beat that?" "How much have you got 1n it?"

Imre learned on Wall street

to get down to the bottom line. Boot's face came very close to Imre's: "Three hundred and six hundred and yesterday two hundred. That'll be eleven hundred contracts, fella ... " he whispered rapidly. "Let me know when you have finished buying yours,

and I'll buy

another thousand." Imre was awestruck. Two million dollars! He made a quick calculation. that's twenty-five thousand.

"I'll buy twenty-five contracts,

Cocoa goes to thirty,

and I'll be

worth one hundred and fifty thousand! Imre didn't wait to get back to New York.

He called up the

office the next morning and bought fifty contracts.

Fifty?

borrowed another twenty-five thousand when he returned from his vacation.

The bank knew he was with P.H. and didn't ask too many

questions. A week later, cocoa stood at twenty-one cents and then jumped to twenty-five and a half.

Imre had more than enough buying power

for fifty more contracts.

-132-

He now had a total of one hundred contracts. deliver him three million pounds of cocoa!

Somebody was to

He called up Boots and

told him he had finished buying his cocoa contracts. "How many?" asked Boots tersely. "One hundred." "I didn't know you had that kind of money." The next day cocoa went down the limit, three cents on the day.

Trading had to be stopped. Imre was back to Boots: "What the hell is going on!

I thought you were buying another

thousand contracts?" "Hershey announced last night there was plenty of cocoa! cocoa traders panicked.

That's

just a play,"

The

Boots said ln a

tone a parent uses to a recalcitrant child.

"Hershey waits until

the price drops and the panic settles down.

Say at fifteen.

Then

they'll buy all they can, buddy!" Now it was Imre who was panic-stricken.

At fifteen he'd not

only be wiped out, but he would owe the bank over a quarter of a million dollars.

Boots must have picked up Imre's gasp over the

wire. "Fifteen?

Does that worry you?"

asked Boots nonchalantly.

"You must have enough reserves to face the margin calls." The next day he did get his first margin call. thousand dollars.

Twenty-five

He didn't have any twenty-five thousand dollars.

Fortunately, the next day cocoa bounced back to the daily limit of three cents.

Imre was saved by the bell.

-133-

A few weeks later, cocoa had inched up to thirty cents, then thirty-one cents.

In another week,

it jumped to thirty-seven

cents. Imre stopped working. broker who,

Every hour he called up his commodity

along with cocoa,

sold pork bellies, silver, hide,

wheat, sugar, potatoes - anything you could think of. This time it was Boots who called him: "Didn't I tell you, fella ... ? Africa.

I'm going to send my man to

I want him to count every cocoa tree in Ghana."

"In Ghana?" asked Imre astonished. "That's where all the cocoa is grown. was grown?

Where did you think it

Can you find out anything from your buddies in Europe?"

The same day, or rather at four in the morning the next day, which was nine in the morning in London, Imre tracked down viktor at Reuters. "You crazy Yankee," he shouted over the crackling transatlantic connection, "what on earth are you doing with cocoa?

Every-

body here, including Nestles, is unloading the stuff on you!" Not many words were needed on Wall street to make or lose a fortune.

A few hours later Imre was out of the cocoa market.

That day the price dropped to thirty-three cents. When the flurry of confirmations on Imre's trades stopped, he calculated that, after commissions and expenses, he had made seven hundred and seventy-four thousand dollars.

-134-

164.

As Ian watched the huge bulk of the Queen Mary in the dock at Southampton a month later, he mused contentedly:

it is fitting

that the boat I am sailing in to America should be named after a half-Magyar like myself. Once he had made up his mind to emigrate, he didn't have the slightest hesitation or fear.

He knew he was right.

He could and

did understand that Mausie was not willing to face up to a new world which didn't have the slow, accustomed and ravaged beauty of the old.

For Ian that world had vanished, irreversibly.

The hammer blows had corne thick and fast.

The serVlce hadn't

renewed his short-term commission at the end of two years when it had corne up for renewal.

When he had been demobilized in Scotland,

he had found the unemployment rate hovered around twenty percent. He had considered himself lucky when,

travelling down to London,

he had run into Viktor, who had then secured a job for him at the BBC Overseas Service.

That hadn't lasted very long either.

The

leftist staff hadn't taken kindly to his anti-Russian views.

His

finances had been in a perilous state.

His father, who had retired

from the Army to his sheep farm in New Zealand, had lent him a thousand pounds.

He had given most of that money to Mausie.

he had kissed the baby good-bye, whispered:

she had bent over to I an and

"You have been a wonderful husband."

had touched him much more deeply than her violence.

-135-

When

In the end, that

He felt no hate,

only sorrow, when he boarded the special

boat-train at Waterloo station.

His conscience was clear:

put his heart into the service.

He felt he had paid his dues and

lived up to the trust of his commission from the King.

he had

Later, he

had learned to be grateful for the kick he had received.

It was

to land him in America. Now he was grateful for a third chance he had. him an opportunity to start afresh.

America gave

He had only a crate of family

belongings and a duffle bag he carried himself to get on board ship.

Full of expectations, he watched the unbounded sea as it

glistened in the spring sunshine. The curving, shining waves kissed the hull with foam.

[ 0 past! 0 happy life! 0 songs of joy! In the air, in the woods, over fields, Loud! loved! loved! loved! But my mate no more, We two together no more. ]

Yes, Maria had gotten married. dentally,

He had heard it, almost aCC1-

from the husband of a colleague of his at the BBC.

There was nothing left to keep him in Europe anymore. Ian was glad when the great boat, after a stopover ln France, headed westward. ship,

His berth was somewhere in the bottom of the

as he only could afford the cheapest fare.

But he found

that even the tourist class was pampered with superb cuisine. Ian, who had lived mostly out of grocery bags and on canteen food in recent months, gorged himself on delicacies: three square meals

-136-

a day and tea!

He put on a kilo a day during the crOSSl.ng, weighing

sixty-two kilos on arrival.

To keep himself trim Ian ran around

the promenade deck twenty-five times a day.

He quickly got used

to the gently swaying planks, which gave a marvelous extra lift to his strides. His intestines still bothered him occasionally, but by and large he felt amazingly well.

Playing tennis in Austria - he had

even managed to get on the team representing the Army - had helped his recovery considerably.

Only after he had gotten drunk -

the

day after his farewell to Mausie and the day after he was fired by the BBC - did he really recall the abuse his body had once been through. On board his usual abstinence was noted by a group of evangelists, who then asked him to join their table. irrepressible

optimism,

their

open-handedness,

friendliness - in sort, their "Americanness."

Ian loved their hospi tali ty

and

One came from Norfolk,

Virginia, another from Omaha, Nebraska, and a third from San Diego, California.

They were anxious to get back home to their families

after a long trip to Europe and the Holy Land. inscribing Ian's menu.

Jack,

his signature and Earl,

from Norfolk, Phil 4:13.

All insisted on

from Omaha, put Romans 10:13 under The enthusiasm

of the trio infected the immigrant to such an extent that he didn't feel homesick until the last evening of the crossing. The Cunard Line served a sumptuous repast for the farewell dinner.

After careful thought, Ian chose chilled honeydew melon,

hors d' oevre varies,

poached salmon with Hollandaise sauce and

-137-

noodles sicilienes,

strawberry shortcake,

ice cream with wafers.

assorted pastries and

He washed it all down with coffee and an

increasing dose of melancholy.

The whole wrenching parting from

his homeland and family had hit him with the concentrated energy

u.s.

immigra-

tion visa from the embassy on Grovenor Square in London.

He kept

it had been accumulating since he had picked up his

repeating to himself that he was really not leaving Europe but rejoining his family,

because it was a transatlantic call from

Prince Tibor which had finally convinced him to take the plunge. A job was waiting for him.

Tibor,

Imre and Ellen, also Elma and

Janos were all ready, and excited, to receive him with open arms. Even these happy thoughts could not console him for more than a moment.

At dinner the captain's representative announced that a

grand party would be held on board in honor of the purser, who was celebrating his fiftieth annlversary with the Cunard Line that day.

Ian went back to his cabin, fished out his kilt and went to

join in the celebration. relief from it.

Perhaps he could get another moment's

Drinks flowed aplenty.

Balloons floated, streamers

glided from table to table, music blared and the conversation was lively. A couple from Oklahoma offered him a bottle of whiskey if he was willing to give a demonstration of the Highland fling. didn't need many shots to get him in high spirits.

He jumped on

top of a table next to the band, and goaded on by applause, catcalls, whistles and laughter of the onlookers, he put on a wild performance.

News of the fling spread quickly over the ship, and

-138-

soon the large room was filled with passengers, some of whom had filtered down from the first class and cabin decks. Among these was Dianne de la Tour, who was on her way back from France, where she had been visiting her numerous cousins and relatives.

with goggle-eyed fascination, she watched Ian's twirl-

ing kilt.

The impression he made on her was both agreeable and

invi ting.

When he finally jumped off the table to claim his bottle,

Dianne sidled up to his table.

She was promptly invited to join

their party. "That was quite a dance!" she said, leaning over to Ian.

She

swiftly added, not giving him a chance to reply to her frank affection, "What do you think of this ship?" Ian was happy to get to know someone who was obviously well bred and, woman.

at the same time, quite artless.

She immediately became embarassed,

not have been so forward.

She was such a young aware that she should

Ian smiled at her luminous eyes which

made him forget the plainness of her looks. and introduced himself by way of an answer. happy,

good-humored chatter.

He stood up briefly She kept up a flow of

I an marvelled that such a

lovely

person, certainly not over twenty, could manage such smooth light banter.

She talked about her trip to France and asked Ian about

his plans in New York.

She was happy to find out that his final

destination was the same as hers and went on by introducing her five brothers and three sisters into her conversation. Dianne didn't quite understand how it was possible that within a few minutes she had come to feel so comfortable with Ian - all

-139-

her European memories suddenly faded from her mind as though they belonged to the past,

a past increasingly far removed.

Ian's

tongue, loosened by the hospitality of the Oklahomans, simply said whatever came into his head at that moment.

Not once did he have

to rack his brain to come up with his end of the conversation. asked her for a whirl around the floor.

When they returned to the

table, he complimented her on her dancing. had liked everything else she did:

He liked it just as he

her fidgeting with her neck-

lace, the way she looked at him with a shy, sideways glance, her adjusting a falling lock on her forehead. The compliment was reflected in her happy smile, eyes and tender, attentive expressions. formed:

sparkling

She was completely trans-

instead of looking plain, she was the beauteous woman she

had always wanted to be. When Ian woke up early the next mornlng, on May 25, 1950, he felt full of emotions - after all, in an hour or less, he would be getting his first glimpse of America.

He was happy to find that

the terrible homesickness of the day before had vanished. He dressed slowly and shaved himself carefully with his straight razor.

The Queen Mary was just passing by Staten Island.

When he

walked up to the first class deck and leaned against the railing, the warm humidity hit his face. mist.

There,

He peered through the dissolving

amid the opiate, soft vapor,

came into view.

the Statue of Liberty

At that moment he heard a melodious tender voice:

"What a sight, isn' t it? II

-140-

Ian felt like kneeling down in front of the statue.

Embar-

rassed by Dianne's presence, he merely bent down and kissed her hand. To overcome her confusion she quickly asked: "00 you have someone who will be meeting yoU?"

"I do hope SO," he exclaimed. the smells, views,

He was getting more excited by

sounds of the magnificent harbor.

A tug boat

came up to the majestic ship. "Please let me have your address ... I'd like to see you if I may, once I am settled down.

Handing over her card, on which she had scribbled her address, Dianne's eyes said:

I'd like that very much.

165.

Prince Tibor had a broad smile on his face.

After nearly

eight years of separation he finally had both his sons with him. In Imre's eyes he noticed a steady look of quiet alertness, the kind he himself must have had at that age -

Imre was on the

threshhold of being thirty - as Magyarland's youngest privy councillor.

The old carefree attitudes of his school days,

once so

evident in the sparkle of Imre's eyes, had given way to a constant readiness for action combined with cautious, sidelong looks.

Last

summer in the swimming pool on the Long Island estate of a friend, Tibor had been shocked to see the extent of his older son's physical injuries.

He was too sensi tive to ask him any questions.

-141-

He couldn't deny how pleased he was to hear the unanimous accounts of Imre's bravery and leadership which reached him in a steady stream as more and more refugees from Central Europe showed up in America.

His older son seemed to have something in the

highest degree which his younger son lacked: practicality. He kept Ian under steady observation, so struck by the changes 1n him.

If he loved him more than Imre, perhaps it was because he

thought his younger son was so vulnerable.

Ian's words were full

of courtesy and consideration, and - albeit all too rarely - there was a slightly amused smile on his face. filled with fire,

But his eyes were not

despite the effort he made to appear happy.

What disturbed Tibor most was Ian's lassitude and the wrinkle on his forehead, which bore witness to his concentration upon a single preoccupation - whatever it was!

And then there was his extraor-

dinary paleness and thinness. Imre, he felt, was quite capable of taking care of himself; it was Ian who needed looking after.

It was for that reason that

he drew him aside before his other son arrived. "It's too bad, isn't it?" "What, Papi?1I Ian asked surprised. IIYour wife, of course. II "I don't qui te

IIThere is not much you can do about her, II his father cut in. IINot wanting to corne over ...

Now you'll have to face a divorce.

I'll tell you something ... 11

He touched his son's sleeve and bent

forward, drawing him closer.

III have been through that myself.

-142-

haven't told you before, but I was married very briefly when I was studying at the Sorbonne before the First War. foolish when young.

Ian was touched by his father's concern. , ,

We all tend to be

He was also touched

by the manner in which it had been expressed: his father had given him a confidence to gain his confidence.

He had never felt so

close to his father as he did in that moment of sharing. Tibor, perhaps to camouflage his outburst of affection, changed the subject to politics.

Ian remembered all of a sudden how fond

he was of saying that everything else was mere pastime for him. He closely questioned his son about the schism in the Communist empire, and Ian expressed the cautious opinion - he didn't dare to be any more positive in his father's presence - that Tito's break with Moscow showed a certain Communist strength,

like that of a

winter flu epidemic when it begins to take many forms. His father, not content to nod in approval, started to castigate certain Western politicians who were sure to use the schism as an excuse for giving aid to Tito.

Carried away by the flow of

his own words, he launched into Washington's complacency with a tirade.

It came to an end only when a ring of the bell announced

Ellen and Ann's arrival. Ian was so taken by Ann that he was speechless for a moment. Ellen ran up to him, almost taking him by surprise. him a big hug, she introduced Ian to Ann.

After giving

Then Ann immediately

started to ask everyone what they would like to drink, being a

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woman who couldn't just sit idly around, needing instead to keep herself busy by being useful. "Do you want to hear the latest Magyar refugee joke?" asked Tibor.

The whole family smiled in anticipation as father was not

only a wonderful storyteller, but someone who enjoyed his jokes as much as anyone.

His humorous expression and anticipatory laughter

infected all with snickers and giggles, the latest creation of Yorkville,

as he proceeded to tell

the part of Manhattan which

teemed with Magyar emigres. "The three Singer brothers from Budapest are having a family reunion five years after their escape from Magyarland.

You know,

these brothers were well known for their tall stories," said Tibor as he lit a cigar. "The oldest,

who lives in America,

begins with his story

first: "I am walking by the White House and who but President Truman calls out in greeting:

'As long as you pass by, why don't you

s top and have lunch wi th me. ' " "The second brother, who lives in England, is not to be outdone." "That's nothing!

I was out in Epsom for the races and who

but Princess Elizabeth stops me." "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to watch the Derby? You would have come with me in the royal coach.

But never mind,

do make your return trip to London wi th me. " "The youngest Singer brother, indulgently."

who lives in Italy,

smiles

"wait until you hear my story!

The Pope has invited me the

other day for a spin around Rome in his carriage. crossed the Eternal City, from the crowd: After the going.

As we criss-

I kept hearing the same old question

"Who is that old priest next to Singer!" laughter died down the conversation really got

While Ann was serving their old favorites,

Tibor regaled

them with highlights of his experiences on the stump and told them about his first piece of furniture in Washington, which was an orange crate. in Dachau.

Imre told a joke which a Greek general had told him

Ellen joined in with her adventures as a trucking boss

and then moved on to the latest gossip she had heard at Erno Laszlo's, the Magyar doctor's Fifth Avenue establishment where she worked as a beautician.

Ann and Ian hung onto every word.

Ian, the newest

arrival, felt like he was back in the old townhouse on the citadel. Sometimes a topic was

just briefly discussed;

another would be

examined at greater length; then, as the day wore on, some of the adventures previously discussed were chewed over again.

Mostly

the Chabaffys lived over what had happened in the past.

It was

Imre, full of animation and anticipation, who favored looking into the future, sharing his plans with his family. He kept the details of his instant fortune ln merciful obscurity.

He announced he had made a bid to buy a co-op of his own

a few blocks up on Fifth Avenue and that he was hoping to buyout the interest of one of his partners who was about to retire. Wealth made him feel expansive and generous.

It lubricated the

benign joy with which he looked at his less fortunate fellow emigres.

-145-

The cocoa caper had convinced Tibor even more that intelligence and brains had little to do with making a fortune.

He reminded

Imre that it was an old Magyar connection who had landed him in a place where he could gamble. But there was one subject Imre didn't mention to his family. It was Tonus.

The details of her beautiful face, her lovely grace,

the intonation of her voice, the way she crossed her hands in her lap, the little finger on her left hand floating separately from the others, the haunting glow of her emerald eyes, the tiny hands folded in prayer, the even tinier ear lobes which invited his love bite -

all these unforgettable memories kept recurring with In-

creasing frequency and more tantalizing detail. Imre knew that he was an exceptionally talented young man who had been prepared from childhood for a great future. to fulfill the early Chabaffy promise.

He was ready

He had made his fortune,

or at the very least, he had made a good start at it. made him even more self-confident than ever before.

That had

Wealth was

also giving muscle to his prestige: it was a spring-board to power even greater than that which he had enjoyed and been privileged to inherit in his native land.

Imre was convinced he was at last

fully positioned on the inside track. His father asked him: "Don't you agree?"

It was only when he heard the question

repeated that he emerged from unaccustomed reverie.

Then, with a

sudden liveliness, he began chaffing Ian about his fling on the Queen Mary.

-146-

The conversation was returning to politics again when Beatrice, the American maid, announced in perfect Magyar: "Dinner is served.

166.

Ellen had her own special reason for organizing a warming party for

Imre.

She wanted to show her talents

houseas a

hostess - to Georgie. That she should fall in love, and so violently, with Georgie, her older brother's best friend,

who lived above her in the same

apartment building, was perhaps not surprising.

What was really

unexpected was that a beautiful, independent and head-strong young woman like Ellen not only could make no secret of her feelings but could not help pursuing the object of her love so slavishly. In company she could not take her eyes off him, so powerless was she to master her passion.

Both her father and brother knew

that she vanished with Georgie over the weekends. the subj ect of their relationship when together.

All four avoided There was an

unspoken assumption that it could not be sustained at that level indefini tely.

Her father kept silent because, deep down, he admired

the strength of her feelings and also because, living in unmarried bliss with Ann, he could not logically afford to object.

There-

fore the feelings of resentment a parent tends to have towards a headstrong and volatile daughter remained latent in the prince for the time being. -147-

Imre didn't think too much about it as he was confident that Georgie,

of all people, would do right by his sister.

Besides,

Imre was busy setting up his own household in the co-op he had purchased on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park.

There were

only two bedrooms in his new home, but it had two great advantages as

far as

Imre was concerned: a formal diningroom and an extra

room with bookshelves from floor to ceiling.

Imre made that into

a library, which soon became his favorite retreat. The whole Chabaffy clan threw itself into the project of establishing a home for

Imre.

Tibor lent. Beatrice for a whole

week to set the place up "properly," and he contributed a magnificent Bruxelles hanging to cover an entire wall of the living room. Along with the hanging he presented Imre with the happy story of the lackluster auction crowd which had enabled him to buy the treasure

for

only eighty dollars.

Ann brought two pale-green

oriental lamps which shared the donor's simplicity and beauty. Ian came up with an antique "Mape of Hungarie, newly augmented by John Speede,

Ano Dom 1626"

flanked by four pairs of portraits

depicting a " s enator," a "gentleman," a " c ittizonn," and a " contreyman" and their wives, which he had picked up in a First Avenue second-hand store for seven dollars (unframed).

Ellen contributed

French copper dishes for the kitchen. Tibor had perhaps more fun than anyone else.

For weeks he

had haunted the auctions around the city and had bagged enough Oriental rugs for the entire apartment, less than two thousand dollars.

to Imre's amazement, for

Neither of them liked wall-to-

wall carpeting. -148-

When the word got around that Imre planned to invite only forty people to his housewarming party,

the Magyar colony went

into a frenzied speculation and even more frenzied lobbying to get on the coveted list. addi tions

Ellen estimated that inevitable last-minute

and friendly gate-crashers would double that number.

She was absolutely right, because nearly one hundred people jammed into Imre's new home. When the Schwarz family arrived with half-a-dozen COUSlns and hangers on, Ede gave Ian a long hug and, after chatting with Imre and Ellen,

drew him aside into the library.

person who

Ede was the kind of

liked first-hand information and bluntly asked his

young friend about his wartime experiences.

Closed-off pain in

Ian's eyes made Ede interrupt softly his account:

"Well, I'm glad

you're are here." 1/ • • •

and what happened to your business?

How did you come

out of it?" Ian asked solicitously. "Quite well, my son, quite well." "Didn't the Germans strip ... ?" "Well,

I'll tell you something about the Germans.

give it to them: they are perfect record keepers. war I went to Germany.

Right after the

My attorney in Munich unearthed the records

of the German occupation forces. relish,

I must

"the complete record,

We found,"

Ede went on with

itemized to the last jog and winch

and the contents of every safe deposit box, of what was had been taken away. for

And do you know what I was able to do?"

Ian's answer, Ede continued rapidly:

-149-

Not waiting

"I even found several

trains in Bavaria with the equipment and much else besides still loaded on the flats and carriages. II II Incredible ...

How lucky for you! II

IIwi th what I found on the train and in the warehouses - all of which was itemized in the records, mind you - I was able to track down practically everything we had lost. II IIDid you keep it all?1I Ede smoothed the side of his head with the palm of his hand and bent close to Ian. IIHell no!

I didn't need all that rusty machinery. II

IIWhat did you do?1I III submitted an itemized claim to the courts. I can tell you the Germans were most generous. I took cash, Ian dear son, I took the cash ... II

He stood up then and,

changing the sUbject,

added as he was leaving the room: III have a regular bridge party every Sunday at five.

Come

and join us next Sunday! II Elma and Janos were two of the last to arrlve, as their flight from Washington had arrived an hour late. that marriage was good for his sister.

Ian was happy to notice

She was fully absorbed in

her husband and their three small children. woman who needed a husband and family.

Elma was the kind of

She simply could not imagine,

and found no interest in imagining, what her life would have been like if her circumstances were different.

It was obvious at once

to all the Chabaffys that her marriage was wonderful and that it would last.

Janos, who had found a job with the Federal Reserve

-150-

Board in Washington, could not have wished for a better mate.

was old enough to be her father and was deeply devoted to her, as older men often are when married to young women.

It was a rare

treat for them to be out together, as babysitters for the children had to pass Elma's exacting standards. Several Magyar emigre leaders showed up too.

Father Istvan,

genial as usual, was there, as was Barankovich, Imre's boss at the Magyar Nation;

and of course,

caused quite a sensation,

there was viktor from London.

appearing with his third wife, a Scot-

tish woman of such delicacy and beauty that Ian was reminded of the famous portrait of Lady Graham by Gainsborough in the National Gallery in Washington. Ian was almost overwhelmed to see two other old friends of the family.

One was Zoltan, who embraced him with the childlike

warmth and affection characteristic of certain people who have gone through unspeakable deprivations.

Ian realized more clearly

than ever that Imre's experiences had immeasurably increased his spiritual and moral fiber: on Zoltan, the administration of Gabor's secret police had left a permanent, invisible disability. The other was Andrew, whom he had often met at the Chabaffy townhouse on the Citadel, one of Imre's old cronies, full of undimmed enthusiasm and almost brotherly concern for Ian. But, to tell the truth, many of the guests lived in the past. For them, the simple phrase "these days" automatically conjured up a collective memory of the days of old in Budapest, where life had

-151-

had a rhythm all its own and where their own lives had been ln tune with the rhythm of everyone else. Janos was definitely not one of those people.

He lived in-

tensely in the present and followed with keen interest his brotherin-Iaw's career on Wall street.

When most of the guests had bid

their farewells, he motioned to his host that he wanted to talk to him in private. After a

Imre invited him into the library.

few preliminary courtesies,

Janos moved his chair

closer to Imre's. "You know what you ought to do?" he began with his customary enthusiasm.

"You should organize some sort of a liaison group

between ourselves and Wall street." "Isn't there one in existence already?" Imre asked, surprised. Holding a glass of brandy, he leaned forward as if to hear his brother-in-Iaw's answer better. "Of course we have some contacts, but they are largely informal and quite unorganized.

At the Fed we could use some of your

input ... " "Like what?" Imre asked. "The volume of new issues coming up, the tone of the market, that sort of thing ...

Think about it,

Imre

do think about

it. " That evening neither of them realized what far-reaching consequences this conversation would have on Imre's career.

-152-

167.

Ian was quite incapable of doing any work that didn't capture his interest completely.

And the job he finally found was not to

his liking at all. When Prince Tibor had called him in England to invite him to come to America, Ian had felt assured there was a job waiting for him.

It was in the international department of the Manufacturer's

Trust Company, whose head was formally an officer of the Schwarz bank in Budapest. visa,

But while he was waiting to get his immigration

the position had been filled,

and when Ian arrived in Man-

hattan he was obliged to look for a job.

After his months'-long

frustration and failure to find employment on the British Isles, it was deeply discouraging for Ian to pound the pavement, put it, lito sell myself.

as he

He didn't want to ask either Imre or Ede for any more help, as he wanted to prove that he could take care of himself.

In the

end, he got a job as an accountant trainee in the New York office of the Swiss Bank Corporation, five dollars a week. it,

at the princely salary of forty-

Although he had no real choice but to accept

he felt strongly that with his training and background he

shouldn't have to start as a trainee.

He soon found out that he

was never going to make it as an accountant. The Swiss manager trusted Ian completely and gave him the job of keeping an eye on the numbered accounts which, for a variety of reasons, had been assigned by the great Swiss bank to its New York

-153-

representative.

Ian was fascinated to discover what an enormous

variety of people kept six figure balances, expecting a zero return,

and in fact getting a negative one, as the bank punctili-

ously charged various fees for the privilege of a numbered account. Ian had no aptitude for keeping accounts, and after an initial flurry of interest,

he quickly became bored with his

job.

continuously caused mayhem to the nightly trial balances although, of all the accounts kept at the office, his were the easiest to balance: activity was almost non-existent, as people were, for the most part, content to let their secret funds sit undisturbed for years, even decades. patient with him,

His co-workers and superiors were extremely

even when Ian needed daily help getting his

figures straight. His father was not slow to notice Ian's disappointment.

On a

Friday night, the last working day of the month, Ian arrived home very late from work. ing his accounts.

He had encountered particular trouble balanc-

It was a hot, humid summer day, and the ride up

from Wall street to the 86th street exit of the Lexington Avenue subway had been a long one.

His father gave Ian a chance to get

out of his sweaty clothes and then drew him aside. "Dear Ian," the prince said tenderly.

"I'd like to glve you

a piece of advice that my father once gave me." "Please do."

Ian was grateful for his father's concern.

didn't know what this conversation was leading up to. knew that he was getting love.

-154-

He only

liMy father told me when I had received my doctorate - I was barely twenty ests you,

'Young man!

Look for something to do that inter-

because if you have a job that interests you,

enjoy it, you'll be good at it, you'll be successful. if you have a dull job, you'll get bored with it,

you'll

Conversely,

and soon you

won't like it at all i you'll be poor at it and you'll be fired! '" "papi, you are right.

I don't like my job at all.

I can't live on what I make. month to Mausie,

Besides,

After sending a hundred dollars a

have barely anything left.

The reason I'm

managing at all is that you don't charge me any rent.

liThe rent the Schwarzes charge is ridiculously low - you know this 1S a rent-controlled building.

You can stay here as long as

you wish, my son," he said looking straight into Ian's eyes. then he continued in a persuasive undertone, thing better to do than accounts

And

"Try and find some-

He waved his hand in such a

contemptuous fashion that the ash from his cigar fell on the rug. It was then that Ian realized what low standards he had set for himself.

On the subway on his way home, his mind had been

going around and around the much-worn groove of thoughts about the financial mess he was in.

A new determination set into him.

That

evening he called Dianne and said he like to see her again. "Just a moment," she replied.

After a long pause she carne

back to the phone and invited him for dinner the following Saturday at eight o'clock. "Please wear your kilts," she asked him.

-155-

"My kilt?" he corrected her.

After a brief interval he said:

"I shall." On Saturday at eight-fifteen,

Ian passed the portals of the

large building across from the Metropolitan Art Museum.

The door-

men were waiting for him and gave his kilt a disapproving look servants at super-exclusive establishments are good at.

Ian gave

them a withering glance in return and imperiously announced himself.

One of the doormen, with eager servility, whisked him up on

the elevator to the top floor. Dianne was waiting for him at the door and greeted him with a gracious smile.

For an imperceptible moment he held his right

hand in both of hers. Ian tried not to show that he was impressed, but impressed he was.

He followed Dianne through a large anteroom and along a

spacious gallery; he entered an enormous living room with a cathedral ceiling which rose to the same level as the floor above it. He could see the lower rungs of another staircase leading further up through the balustrade of the balcony.

The balcony ran along

three sides of the room, indicating the apartment was a triplex. The sight greeting Ian struck him like a tableau vivant on a giant stage.

For a moment everyone in the room stared at them,

not making a move.

Ian stopped too,

portrait effect of the scene.

taking in the mul tiple-

The spell was broken when Dianne's

mother got up from an expansive easy chair to greet Ian.

She in

turn introduced him to her other children, five or six, Ian didn't remember for certain.

-156-

Four distinguished-looking men in black tie sat on a sofa and two chairs, occupying center stage. "Delighted to meet you,

Ian," said a gravelly voice.

Its

owner gave him a firm handshake, slowly rising and sitting down again.

The youngest of the other three, a handsome Englishman,

bore a striking resemblance to Leslie Howard, the mOVle star who had been killed in the crash engineered by Pogo Ryth, the one which had also eliminated General Sikorski, commander of the Polish Home Army.

He introduced himself in his most intimidating English

accent: "Lawrence Ashbury, Royal Fusiliers." Ian was in no mood to be intimidated and shot back: "Ian Campbell, Scots Greys." Fifteen,

love in favor of Campbell - Ian read in Ashbury's

face, which appeared to be impressed and crestfallen at the same time. From then on the two became close friends. A liveried footman came up. "What would you like to drink, sir?"

Ian cast a rapid glance

at the table. "Champagne, please."

For a moment he had the impression that

the men were haughtier than the flower of Magyar aristocracy and the servants more servile than "at home." "What have you been up to?" asked Dianne, who hadn't left his side since the introductions had started. full account."

"You must give me a

She said it in a melodious and kind manner, calcu-

-157-

lated to draw Ian out of his reserve.

She wore a long, white-

linen summer frock, edged with intricate snow-white starched lace. A black-and-white silk scarf, which she told him later she had bought in France, was tucked in her left sleeve. She made a determined effort to put Ian at east.

He found

his formal behavior in stark contrast to her first impression of him on the Queen Mary. for Ian's behavior.

But she never could have guessed the reason He felt,

quite simply,

that he was there

under false pretences.

Although he was separated from Mausie, he

was not yet divorced.

Dianne took Ian's embarassment as shyness

and continued with her inviting manner.

Ian blurted out the story

of the job which had fallen through and his dissatisfaction with his present one. lIyou must see Daddy, II she said firmly. , ,

II He , 11 help you. II

Daddy was the enormously distinguished-looking man with the gravelly voice who had a full head of snow-white hair.

The last thing

Ian had in mind was to ask for his help. Lawrence joined them with a glass of sherry in his hand. IIDianne told us, II he announced in a much friendlier tone than he had adopted initially,

IIthat you came over with her on the

Queen Mary. II IIThat's right, II replied Ian, still on guard. IIWhy did you come here?1I he asked bluntly. liTo make my fortune, sir, II he shot back bluntly. IIThere are two ways to make your fortune quickly ln this country, II

said Lawrence smiling.

-158-

"And what are they?" asked Ian, becoming amused. "Hollywood and Wall Street," he replied promptly and with authority.

"You do it in Hollywood as an actor, or on Wall Street

as a stockbroker." "Hollywood is out for me," explained Ian, with a big smile on his face, pointing toward his bald head.

By now he had come to

terms with the fact he had lost part of his hair.

He could even

take it lightly. "Then it's Wall street for you. " The major-domo announced dinner. the simple, well-prepared meal.

Four liveried footmen served

Ian was seated next to Dianne.

She held so much of his attention that he barely noticed the others at the table. "You must see Daddy."

She persisted when the party returned

to the living room after dinner and the younger sisters and brothers disappeared toward the upper floors. "I can't," Ian protested. "I f you do not, I shall," declared Dianned firmly.

Ian watched

her go up to her father and whisper a few words in his ear. Mr. de la Tour motioned to Ian to join him, with one elegant movement of his forefinger. There was no escape. "Here is my card," he said solemnly moving forward. and see me next week."

"Come

He settled back on the sofa and resumed

his talk with his two older quests.

-159-

168.

Dianne was looking forward to the Fourth of July weekend with trembling anticipation.

In fact, the whole de la Tour family was

bursting with excitement: their dates,

the two oldest sons were agog about

and the younger ones were running up and down the

stairs preparing their own little plans;

the oldest daughter,

Gail, expecting a call from her beau, was never far from the phone, and the teenage girls alternately listened to the excited chatter around them or exchanged plans about "someday" among themselves. Best of all, their father, so often absent on business trips, was to be with them for three consecutive days. It was Friday night,

and Dianne was beside herself with ex-

citement, then scared, then excited again. JOln the family in Quogue,

She had invited Ian to

some one hundred and fifty kilometers

east of Manhattan on Long Island.

She had already thrown off her

dress and put on a nightgown and was sitting on the top of her bed; she tucked her feet underneath herself without disturbing the sheets.

with a toss of her head she threw her straight dark hair

forward and started plaiting it. Ian was the first male guest she had been allowed to invite to their summer home,

an immense frame house right on the ocean.

The few dates she had had before had all been arranged by her parents.

Some had been awkward, some dull, all amiable.

Ian was

nothing like any of the others - there was no basis for comparison. She was deeply attracted to him.

The more his shyness and protes-

tations came to light, the more she liked him.

There were measures

of courtesy, boyishness, sophistication, elegance and reticence in him, all of which added to a delightful mixture quite beyond her definition. Her practiced fingers flew deftly in and out of the lengthening braid,

and she kept moving her head left and right to an

lnner rhythm she was scarcely conscious of.

Even her father had

been favorably impressed by the young immigrant.

He came from a

good family and had seemed to handle the meeting with him and the interviews he had arranged in a creditable manner.

He had even

had the courtesy to ask for his advice when, within a short period of time, he had received four job offers and hadn't knows which one to accept.

Quite uncharacteristically, he had mentioned all

these impressions to Dianne.

She had interpreted this to infer

that Ian would be an acceptable suitor, as far as her father was concerned.

When she had timidly asked his permission to invite

Ian for the fourth of July weekend, he had immediately and almost absentmindedly agreed, as if to indicate she was not to bother him in the future for such clearances: he could come, in fact, anytime she was pleased to have him. After braiding her hair,

Dianne kept staring ln front of

herself with a dreamy concentration, wide.

her dark eyes luminously

A week earlier when she had invited him over the phone, she

had offered to take him out in one of the family cars, station wagon.

a bulky

Ian had proudly announced that he had acquired a

1938 Pontiac convertible.

He had talked exuberantly about its

-161-

outside running boards, exquisite elegance and unpredictable reliability.

It had cost a mere three hundred dollars.

The seller

had refused to vouch for the engine, but at least it had four wheels.

The way he had described the proud Indian head on top of

the bonnet sounded as if he were talking about the Spirit of Ecstasky, the Rolls Royce's hood ornament. \-;

After she had climbed into the sheets, she kept gazing in front of herself.

She lay there motionless for a long time before

falling asleep. Around ten on Saturday morning, Dianne was whisked eastward at an alarming speed on the Southern State Parkway.

The trip was

punctuated by constant giggles from the jump seat, which was occupied by the two youngest de la Tour daughters, who had found Ian's quaint accent and driving habits a constant source of amusement. Dianne and her party were the last to arrive in the family compound, which consisted of three large beach houses, occupied by the de la Tours and the families of two first COUS1ns.

Each looked

like the other, that is, the COUS1ns and their houses -- the cousins wholesome and enthusiastic,

the houses weatherbeaten, homey, com-

fortable and sprawling, built on stilts over the sand dunes and wonderfully inviting.

Both Dianne and her cousins had spent every

summer here since they were born. of guests,

she had to share her room with two of them,

didn't mind in the least. she was.

Their own houses were so full and she

She was happy to see Ian as excited as

He doubled up with two of her brothers.

The glorious

sandy beach was soon invaded by dozens of brothers, sisters, cousins

-162-

and friends playing handball, flying kites, building sand castles, swimming, walking leisurely and simply sprawled over beach towels soaking up the sun. hot dogs

Meals were haphazard and almost continuous:

and sandwiches,

marshmallows

and beer.

cokes,

potato-chips,

milk,

iced tea,

Dianne's mother held a bourbon on the

rocks in her hand at all times. In the afternoon, when the rest of the families were having their siesta, Dianne took Ian for a long walk on the beach.

The

enormous waves hammered the dunes after their journey of thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

The salty air, the screech of

the seagulls, the constant crashing of the waves, the slurry of sea debris on the sand dunes and the scorching sun giddied Dianne and Ian into joy despite their shyness and reluctance. Her shyness stemmed from her natural disposition as well as an inculcated reluctance to appear forward. have a southern mother.

She did,

after all,

Ian's came from a subconscious belief

that he was not entitled to the warmth and embrace of such a wonderful family and the very conscious knowledge that he was still, technically, a married man. Dianne kept leading Ian further and further away from the family compound,

into the wilderness of the sea coast, deserted

dunes and lonely beaches, not wishing to share him with anyone but herself. feel hot.

After nearly an hour of steady walking, both began to Dianne threw down the large beach towel and stripped

down to her one piece swim suit. other,

Ian did too.

their hands found one another's.

-163-

Close to each

Dianne rolled towards

Ian.

Feeling the lengths of each other's bodies, the two hung

poised in perfect stillness.

The beat of their hearts sounded

louder than the rolling thunder of the waves. The sun kept beating down from the cloudless sky,

and soon

both felt the need to taste the coolness of the ocean. Dianne sensed discontent and turmoil in Ian.

Did she guess

that he felt terribly removed from Europe and that his emotions were being deeply influenced by new experiences, sounds, nourishments,

accents,

customs,

climate,

tions, dimensions and presences?

expanSlveness,

hopes,

asplra-

Did she know he felt guilty for

being so lucky, so fortunate to be in America? The years seemed to stretch in front of Dianne ln an endless succession of joys, just as the waves beat at the shore with endless mUS1C. She scrambled up and pulled Ian after her. She took her bathing suit off as if it were the most natural thing to do.

Ian stared at her budding breasts for only a moment

and then quickly pulled off his shorts. Both started to run towards the sea at the same time and splashed into the water together. merged by a breaking wave.

within moments

Ian was sub-

He was a powerful swimmer and let

himself be thrown back towards the shore.

Dianne frolicked in the

water, taking care that the upper part of her body was not exposed. She saw Ian throwing himself back into the ocean, beyond the line of the breakers.

When he emerged from the waves the next time, he

-164-

was half a mile out and moving further out to sea, born by the powerful, treacherous undertow of the ebb tide. Dianne allowed herself to float on the top of the crest of the next incoming wall of waves. realized with horror that

Ian was

From high upon the wave she frantically trying to swim

toward the shore, rapidly losing his fight against the pull of the undertow.

-165-

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE THE NEW WORLD

For I bestow upon any man or woman the entrance to all the gifts of the universe. Walt Whitman Every day is new. Every experience is new. Every person is new. Everything is. new, every morn1ng in your life. Leo Buscaglia ]

169.

It was a new sensation, being a plaything of the ocean, being no more substantial than a ping-pong ball borne along the rapids. Ian was astonished at how quickly he had become exhausted.

new surge of waves rolled over him and sucked him under the water. Seconds later,

Ian bubbled on top,

simply too spent to swim anymore.

gasping for air.

He was

He tried to conserve his rema1n-

ing energy by floating on top of the sea on his back, at a fortyfive-degree angle from the sea bed. The waves didn't give him respite.

Irregular in size, height

and intensity, there was no way to gauge them.

-166-

The moment after

Ian felt he had the measure of one of them, he found his head under water again. Surging from a deep valley onto the crest of another monumental wall of sea, he got a glimpse of the shore. less than a kilometer out at sea.

The sand dunes looked to him,

floating at sea level, very, very far away. his own.

He was actually

But he was holding

He lost his panic and mastered the waves.

He was breath-

ing heavily, yet he managed to stay above water for several minutes. Then disaster struck.

He got a cramp ln one of his legs

which made him double up with pain. the muscle.

In that moment he was hit squarely by another wave.

He began to choke. Until then,

He jerked downward to touch

His lungs started to fill up with water.

Ian had been confident he would make it.

He hadn't

known how, yet he had had no doubts. New fear crept into him.

He made a violent half-turn, trying

to straighten his spastic, contracted leg and was once again dragged under water by the surge of the tide.

He was spun around by the

whirling sea and spat out on top of a wave.

He knew what was

going to happen next, and he felt quite helpless to do anything about it: as the wave moved toward the shore, he'd be left behind to fall deep into the trough behind it.

The next line of waves

would then overwhelm him. Dianne caught sight of him despite her poor eyesight.

ducking through the waves with several powerful strokes, she managed to reach Ian.

-167-

"Just float,"

she shouted several times.

He could finally

hear her above the roar of the raging ocean. "Cramp! II he managed to gasp. She put her right hand under the base of his spine and succeeded in keeping him afloat with energetic strokes of her right arm.

For a while she just treaded water.

By swimming ahead of a

wave,

then tarying as long as possible on top of its crest,

she

managed to avoid the powerful tide which surged closer to the bottom of the sea.

Repeating this manuever several times, Dianne

slowly edged closer to shore.

Eventually she found her footing.

The shallow water stretched far out,

and she had a long way to

come in.

When she finally managed to

She was exhausted herself.

reach the shore, she dragged Ian out of the water.

As soon as the

hot sun hit his doubled-up leg, the cramp vanished.

Dianne bent

over him. III love you,ll she whispered, pressing her lips next to his ear.

She clasped him in her arms, trying to warm him up with the

heat of her own body. "Sorry," was all I an could say. his stomach.

Pressing hard on his upper torso,

vomit the sea water he had swallowed. back.

She quickly turned him on she got Ian to

He managed to get his breath

He pulled himself up, leaning on his elbow. "Thank you," he gasped.

"You saved my life!"

Two dots appeared on the dunes, two persons walking in their direction.

Only then did Dianne realize that both she and Ian

were nude.

Casting her eyes around the beach, she could see no

-168-

trace of their swim wear. towel were further east.

She conjectured their clothing and the Holding Ian's hand, she waded along the

shore. Glancing backward she realized the two figures were gaining on them rapidly.

with a sustained tug, she got Ian on top of the

dunes, then disappeared out of sight.

When a white-haired couple

she knew from the village had passed them,

she peered, in her

slightly humorous but very endearing manner, over the dunes.

Ian,

whose eyesight was better than hers, spotted his red briefs, Dianne's suit and the white towel lying on the pale blonde sand not far from them. I an spread out his body, pimpled skin.

letting the sun kiss his goose-

Dianne noticed the cluster of welts along the rim

of his stomach and the deep purple of his fingers.

Trying to hide

her breasts and rub his fingers vigorously at the same time wasn't easy to do.

When Ian's fingers got warmer she realized how stiff

some of them were. "sorry," said Ian, "I can feel with only three of my fingers." She gently,

almost imperceptibly,

touched the angry welts

which dotted his underbelly. Ian was not ready to talk.

All he said was,

"Souvenirs of the service." It was dusk when the pair got back to the de la Tour compound. Several pairs of eyes looked at them curiously.

Everyone was too

polite to ask any questions aloud. Ian told Mrs. de la Tour the story of the rescue after a quick shower and change.

Smiling at him angelically, she mumbled

-169-

a lady-like incoherent reply.

Dianne's father, who was busy bar-

becuing hamburgers, commented tersely: "Bad business.

You were lucky

A big ocean liner was

heading out not far from the shore big waves ...

She must have caused those

The tides are a real bear, too ...

paper plates ...

Get me those

There's a good fellow!"

Ian felt dizzy.

Dianne was the first to notice.

"You've got yourself quite a sunburn." The next day, on his twenty-third birthday, Ian woke up with a hot, burning sensation allover his body. red.

His skin was lobster

Dianne put a wonderfully soothing cream on him.

his head and his groin were the sorest spots. brothers gave him an old beach hat to wear. sun most of the day.

The top of

One of Dianne's

Ian kept out of the

In the late afternoon he took a long walk

along the beach with Dianne.

Neither of them talked very much.

Ian's head was full of thoughts which kept going around and around without respite. her?

What am I to do?

[Dianne saved my life. She said she loved me.

How can I thank Is that possible?

What did Imre say when I showed him her father's card? last remaining titans of investment banking? the grand old men of Wall Street.

One of the

He is still one of

Even if I got a divorce, would

this Roman Catholic family allow me to marry Dianne?

What if they

find out that I was still married when she saved my life? drummed out of the banking business.

How is this possible that I

keep getting involved with Roman Catholic girls? then Tonus, then Mausie.

I'll be

First Maria,

They've brought me nothing but misery.

-170-

How can I become happy with Dianne?

It seems quite impossible.

Certainly the odds ... yet ... ] Slowly the sweep of the sand,

the lengthening shadows and

Dianne's fingers holding his diminished his fears.

He smiled at

her. "Daddy gave us a big treat for your birthday, "We can dine out tonight. his account.

she said happily.

And we can charge the whole evening to

The Scotch Mist Inn was situated on top of a hill overlooking the Hamptons.

Dianne and Ian were given one of the best tables.

At Dianne's insistence Ian put on his kilt, which he wore with a white monkey-jacket, part of a British officer's summer uniform. Dianne was alternately bubbly and adoring.

She was a poor

dancer, but Ian expertly steered her over the floor. happily that everybody stared at them and,

She noted

after looking them

over, put their heads together. The music was sprinkled with tunes from the Roaring Twenties and

Fair Lady, the great current hit on Broadway.

They danced

to them all. Dianne insisted that Ian order champagne, the restaurant sang "Happy Birthday" to him. birthday, too,

and the staff of It was America's

and everybody was in a joyous, confident and fes-

tive mood. She loved his authoritative dancing, his sense of rhythm, his beautiful smile and firm body. [ Why doesn't he ask me to marry him? ]

-171-

170.

One of the first things Imre had done after landing in America had been to send a long letter to Tonus. [ My dearest Tonus,

] he began,

[ I'm writing this from Papi's apartment in New York. Magyarland last week, Switzerland with Janos.

escaping on foot with Ellen.

I left

Elma is in

All the Chabaffys are now refugees in the

wilderness. It was a sad moment when I decided to leave. really gave us no choice.

The Russians

We held out longer than any of the

other small countries east of the Iron curtain.

I fought an in-

creasing rear-guard action against the Russian takeover.

I knew I

was playing for time in the hope the world would wake up to the Russians'

designs.

The Americans and the English on the Control

Commission came to the same realization we had arrived at much earlier, that the Kremlin had a well-planned conspiracy to colonize us.

Unfortunately,

the Budapest dispatches and warnings fell on

deaf ears in Washington and London. We were particularly disappointed in Truman, as he is reported to be a spunky and forthright man.

Americans still don't seem to

realize that the Russians are infinitely more dangerous than the Germans ever were.

We could see the end of Nazism but Communism,

the cloak for the Kremlin's imperial designs, is a cancerous lesion which will take generations to cure. vive this cancer?

-172-

will our small country sur-

When Truman woke up,

it was too late.

lost its nuclear superiority. driver's seat.

The West,

The Free World had

The Russians are once more in the

as well as the hundreds of millions

groaning under Russian slavery, will have to pay dearly for the terrible series of blunders and treacheries which turned a mighty victory into defeat. Churchill, so brilliant in many respects, better.

should have known

The old London game of playing one European power against

another is hopelessly outdated.

Churchill's tremendous personal

flaws had more and more disastrous effects as his power and influence increased.

In the first War his Gallipoli adventure cost the

lives and the welfare of tens of thousands.

The defense of his

pervious king was gallant and foolish: it allowed Hitler more time to rearm.

Later his flirtation and alliance with the devil and

his furtive and shameful dealings with Stalin cost England her status as a world power.

For us Magyars and all the millions in

the captive nations, the cost was our freedom and independence. Churchill has thrown away the moral force of a great nation now wallowing in Socialism.

But that is a boy-scout camp compared

to the concentration camp which half of Europe has become. l

The

English voters will be able to throw out the Socialists when the inevitable bankruptcy sets in, but what about us captive Europeans? Who will give us the right to vote, so we can throw the Russians out? I'm going to report for work at a Wall Street firm in which Uncle Ede has an interest and where Georgie also works.

-173-

I wish

you could come over.

Despite the shortcomings of some of its

political leaders, America is great and beautiful, mankind's last remaining hope and trust. less.

The opportunities here appear limit-

We could start a new life together and give our children

and our childrens'

children a world of freedom.

Ian gave me a

poem in Vienna in which Walt Whitman, the American poet, sings about it.

Here is a line, which can't really be translated:

"the

entrance to all the gifts of the universe." Please write soon. here.

I am impatiently awaiting your arrival

I'll be happy to send money for the fare. Your devoted and loving, Imre ]

Tonus had replied by return mail,

and she kept writing long

letters every week, regardless of whether she got a reply or not. Tonus was trying to get away, but Aunt Julia and her brother kept throwing obstacles in her way. She had to fill out form after form for her u.S. visa. even enlisted Ian's aid.

He,

Imre

in turn, called on Moose Sinclair,

his American friend from Colorado who was still in Vienna, to open doors and get the right names and addresses in general, to move things forward.

As Tonus was born in Magyarland, she came under

the Magyar immigration quotas. years.

The waiting period was up to three

Pulling strings, Tonus got on the quota, and her priority

was expedited.

She had to have a sponsor who would employ her

when she got to America or an American husband.

-174-

Imre offered to

marry her immediately.

That alone would not have made much dif-

ference, as he was, of course, still not a u.s. citizen. The necessity of finding a sponsor gave her family a convenient handle by which to control Tonus.

The Dadians could barely

reconcile themselves to the idea that the only remaining unmarried daughter would immigrate overseas, and even less that she was set to marry Protestant Imre.

Finally, her uncle was overcome by her

constant pleas and tears, and he agreed to arrange for a sponsor through the Roman Catholic Church. request for a sponsor in New York.

The church circulated the

A Rockefeller family, collateral

descendents of John D. Rockefeller, signed the required documentation for Tonus.

There were three small children, and the parents

were glad to sponsor a young woman of impeccable credentials as a permanent babysitter. But when Imre made his fortune in the cocoa dealings, there was no holding back either of them. and so did the bureaucrats. Tonus got her visa.

The family ran out of excuses,

After fourteen months of waiting,

She landed in America on a hot summer's day,

a few weeks after Ian had celebrated his first birthday in America. The Rockefellers picked her up at the airport. when she arrived in Greenwich, Connecticut.

She called Imre

He was delighted and

surprised to hear from her - Aunt Julia hadn't allowed Tonus to let Imre know her exact date and time of arrival. It was not until the weekend that she was able to go to Manhattan.

Her employer brought her to Tibor' s apartment.

Imre

realized he was there to look his family over, and perhaps send a

-175-

report back to Austria.

After exchanging a

few courtesies, he

appeared to be satisfied and left. "Everything is so new to me, so different,lI Tonus said. Prince Tibor laughed. "I'll tell you a story to give you an idea about what a remarkable country we are in."

Imre had heard the story often enough,

so he turned to watch Tonus' expression. "This story is about Bela Bartok, the composer.

He had a

monthly stipend from Columbia University of something like five or six hundred dollars a month.

When a state of war was officially

declared between America and Magyarland in 1943, the university stopped his monthly check. " "Why?" asked Tonus. "Being Magyar,

he was classified as

'an enemy alien'.

decided to find a way to replace his allowance, his chief source of income." "Papi, didn't he get any royal ties?" cried Ellen. "Do you know how much he got for the performance of one of his compositions at Carnegie Hall? ... dollar, a mere legal honorarium." mated as he went on with his story.

One dollar ... yes, one

Prince Tibor became more ani"Anyway, I thought I'd go to

five or six of my friends and ask each of them to contribute a hundred a month to a fund.

I approached a former ambassador who

had made a fortune in the dairy business.

He was a great friend

of the Magyars; besides, he could easily afford the hundred dollars ...

even two hundred a month!"

-176-

The prince lit a cigar, then after a few puffs, he proceeded at a faster pace. "After I presented my case he asked me, 'Well, alright, he is the greatest living composer of music in the world today ... me, what else he can do?'

Tell

I replied, 'he is a great piano player.'

'Wonderful,' replied my friend.

'Why don't we get him to join a

band, and if he is as great as you say he is, he'll make a helluva lot more money than six hundred a month!

And you do know what?

He refused to contribute even a penny!" "What did you do, Uncle Tibor?" Tonus asked. "0h, I talked to someone else, and we got his monthly income replaced ...

You know, children ...

This is a new world, a dif-

ferent world ... people think differently here.

Once we adapt

ourselves ... it'll be fine ... it'll be just great. II

After another

puff on his cigar, he added with a wide smile: IIPerhaps we can adapt them a Ii ttle to our way of thinking, too.

171.

When Tonus arrived in America, Ian was in Texas on his first field trip as a security analyst for B.G. Brown and Company. The senior partner was rightly called Big Brown, or Mr. Big. He was financial advisor to the state of New York and Connecticut, chairman of the board of Maine Iron Works, chairman of the execu-

-177-

tive committee of Hook Chemical Corporation, trustee of the Scottish widows Fund of Edinburgh and president of the Municipal Bond Club of New York.

His crusty manner and formidable eyebrows poorly

hid a heart of gold. When Ian had handed him de la Tour's card, he had asked him a few sharp questions,

then offered him a job at five thousand a

year, with an increase to seven after a year, more than double his current remuneration. the spot.

He nad fought the impulse to say "yes" on

After a short pause, he had declared he had to consult

with Mr. de la Tour on the matter.

Mr. Big had told him gruffly

that the offer would be open for a week.

Inwardly he had been

deeply impressed because I an had showed respect for those who would help him,

circumspection and spunk,

qualities he prized

highly. Ian'a behavior hadn't been as audacious as it had appeared. Mr. Big was the third person he had seen out of the four that de la Tour had recommended.

The previous two had also offered a job

to him - such was the magic of the de la Tour card. interview, Ian's confidence had increased.

with each

Suddenly he had become

a sought-after commodity. Mr. de la Tour had been more pleased but not really surprised when Ian had come back to consult with him about the four offers, pleased because Ian showed jUdgment and trust, not surprised as he was quite aware of the magic of his own reputation.

The way he

had commented on the four offers had been another object lesson for

Ian.

He had begun by loyally praising all of them.

-178-

Then,

with not too much prodding from his protege, he had come to the point.

The first offer, he had reminded him, came from an octo-

genarian senior partner of a highly regarded firm with large accounts; there the succession was in question.

The second had the

business of the large trust companies in his pocket; there, nepotism was rife.

The third was one of the largest; there, Ian would

need a long time to make his mark.

The fourth was Big Brown.

That great man took Ian under his wing.

He made him spend a

week or two in each of the firm's departments, including statistics. There Ian was haunted by figures again, until a stroke of luck came his way. The investment advisory department was headed by Louise Waterman, a

lovely unmarried woman from Virginia.

She had an important

client with a large life insurance policy from an obscure company in Texas.

All the "statisticians," as Big Brown called them -

they preferred to be called security analysts - were too busy with their own projects to notice her client. A week later, Texas Panhandle.

Ian found himself on a dusty alr field in the As his new-found affluence hadn't yet found its

way to his headgear, Ian was wearing his old tam o'shanter. was walking down the gangplank,

As he

someone from the crowd rushed up

to Ian and snatched off his tam o'shanter. "I haven't seen one of these in thirty years," said that someone, replacing it with cowboy gear. "This is a twenty-five dollar hat, sonny," he said and disappeared.

Ian was not much impressed by this odd reception.

-179-

had a few hours before his appointment with the president of the life insurance company, and so he decided to take a walk through the little town.

He stumbled across a brand-new church, an impres-

sive neo-gothic cathedral, and counted it a major find, considering the neighborhood. The president of the company greeted Ian with the enthusiasm of a vacuum-cleaner salesman. lilt's wonderful that you honor us with a visit, sir, from New York, the Big Apple, yes sir!"

Before I an had had time to open

his mouth, he launched into a long discussion about the company's new office building. "It'll be the tallest skyscraper between st. Louis and Los Angeles, sir!

That is my first project as president of this company.

I have many more.

This is going to be one of the largest insur-

ance companies in the great state of Texas and these united states, yes sir!

"May I see the balance sheet, please?" Ian asked. "We don't generally ... II

After several minutes of sparring,

and after Ian had threatened to leave, the president announced: "1'11 see what I can do for you, sir! tant.

I'll call our accoun-

Perhaps they could round up a copy for you.

on these premises.

It must remain

The bylaws prohibit ... you understand, S1r.

If you wait a few minutes, sir,

I'll have it ready for you in a

jiffy, yes sir! II While he scurried off, Ian went to the men's room. interior was made out of white marble. rich,

thought I an. -180-

The entire

"These Texans must be very

The balance sheet was revealing.

One column showed the cost

of the assets, the other the market value.

capital was a micro-

scopic one hundred ten thousand. "That is why we are actively raising more money, sir, for our expansion. II "Tell me more about it. II "Yes, year-end.

Sl.r.

We'll

have more

than two million capital by

"How do you propose to do that?" IIWe have it all worked out!

he replied enthusiastically.

"You see, this is a small company as of now, sir, but it has been in business for many years.

We have quite a few hundred policy

holders who have built up a nice equity in their insurance policies.

Here it is on the balance sheet ... II "I see: cash surrender value, three million, four hundred and

fifteen thousand dollars, II

sir,

read Ian.

I'll get our staff busy calling on these policy holders, the president continued rapidly.

"We are offering them

stock in our company at ten dollars a share. rific response so far.

You see, we pay a ten percent commission

to whoever helps us to convert. Yes, sir, ten percent.

We have had a ter-

Our own men, brokers,

Everybody benefits!

lawyers.

That is how B.G. Brown had received a letter offering a fat commission on the conversion of Louise's customer's life insurance policy into stock of the marble-walled company.

-181-

Ian's glance fell on another item on the balance sheet. III see this piece of land was acquired for $25,000.

It shows

here, under current market value, as being worth $450,000.

Where

J.s this land?" "Right here, sir!1I the president said proudly, stepping up to the window and pointing to an acre of dirt outside.

"We bought it

only last month. II "How has it risen so much in value in such a short period of time?1I Ian persisted. IIDon't you see?" exclaimed the president. on which we'll build our skyscraper!

"That is the land

with our new home office

buil t on it, that land, sir, should be worth a million! II Ian caught the only plane out the next morning. At first,

Louise was rather disappointed that her client's

life insurance company really had a negative net worth and no capital at all and was peddling worthless stock for ten dollars. She interrupted his report with a big smile: "You have done a good job, Mr. Campbell." "Shouldn't we report this to the police?

To anyone?

This J.S

an outright swindle, II Ian sputtered. A few hours later he was summoned to Big Brown's office. "What have I done?

Am I going to be fired?" thought Ian.

"Campbell ... eh ... Ian ... Miss Waterman told me about your report on your Texas trip hundred dollars room?"

You know, it cost the firm over two

and what is this nine dollars for a motel

grumbled the great man with bristling eyebrows, waving

Ian's expense account sheet. -182-

"He is going to fire me ... or at the very least, dock my next paycheck with the expense." Ian was terrified. "I had to stay there overnight, sir," he mumbled.

"There is

only one flight out of there daily." Mr. Brown took off his glasses. that way.

He looked more benevolent

He held Ian in suspense for a tantalizing five seconds

longer, gazing appraisingly at his protegee. "Your salary will reflect a one thousand dollar increase effective the first of next month, son. II in his eye,

as he watched I an's astonished face.

accounting department. questions.

Big Brown had a twinkle

Ask them to call me,

II Inform the

if there are any

Now run along and go back to work!

And start making

us some money for a change! II Ian was on top of the world. When he received his first paycheck, reflecting the increase he had been given, he went to Brooks Brothers and bought himself a bowler hat, like the one Imre and Georgie wore.

Papi presented

him with a silk tie. IINow you are an important banker. II He called Dianne. IILet's go out for dinner ... I know a little place in Yorkville you'll love. II IITell me, what

the occasion? II she asked excitedly.

III got my first raise. II

-183-

"So soon?

How wonderful!"

Ian,

in his joy, didn't notice

the disappointment in her voice.

172.

[ August 28th

Dear Mama, I arrived yesterday after an uneventful and very long flight. It is hot and humid.

Mr. R. and two of the children were waiting

for me at the airport. Mr. R. has agreed to take me to New York this coming weekend. Very few people work here on Saturday and even fewer on Sunday. The Americans keep rushing around. as happy here as at home.

People don't seem to be

Perhaps the hot climate, the continued

restlessness and running after money are responsible.

Are they

missing much of life by being so preoccupied with material things? The R.'s hohave a large house. room, kitchen and diningroom; there a big wine cellar. a library.

The ground floor has a living 1S

a garage for three cars and

The parents live upstairs, where there is also

I live with the children on the top floor.

pleasant room.

I have a

It is sunny and rather small.

I get only one day off, or two days every two weeks, which does not give me much free time. my presence.

The children are well behaved in

Discipline is much more lax here than at home.

-184-

They

are allowed to stay up until ten o'clock at night and often watch T.V., which is constantly interrupted by commercials. I have to get back to the chldren now. I hope you are well and happy. Many greetings to you all. Much love, Tonus.

September 7th Dear Mama! Last Sunday I had a wonderful visit with Uncle Tibor, Ellen and,

of course,

Imre.

Uncle Tibor has a beautiful, large apart-

ment on the most fashionable residential avenue in New York. Imre is very well, but like all Americans, he works too much and looks too tired.

He has made a lot of money in cocoa, you

know, the stuff I love so much at the Konditorei on the Main Square at home. of cocoa.

I didn't know that anyone could buy and sell huge amounts The whole thing is a mystery to me.

The main thing is

that he is rich now and has an elegant apartment on an avenue overlooking Central Park. Saturday.

He is giving a party there for me next

I will not be able to see him next Sunday because Mr.

and Mrs. R. are going to visit relatives that day and I'll have to stay with the children. Uncle Tibor said coming to America is not like going from Austria to England.

One has the feeling,

as he put it, that one

has

arrived on a different planet.

difference for me is the climate.

He's right.

The greatest

It was supposed to be a cool

day, but I slept with only a sheet last night, and I am constantly aware of the humidity in the a1r.

Out here in the country, the

air is at least clean, but in the city the climate is hot and the air 1S filthy. I have to tell you about the children.

William is the oldest;

he is ten and looks like his father and is rather serious. sister Sarah is eight.

His

She has blonde hair and is quite bossy;

she keeps ordering me about. everybody calls her Lizzie.

The youngest is named Elizabeth, but She is obviously her parents' favorite,

probably because she is only four. I have to close now - Lizzie 1S cry1ng and I have to serve dinner very soon.

Hope your health is better. Love and hugs, Tonus

Dear Mama! Too bad you have to stay 1n bed so much. better soon.

I pray you'll get

Please ask Lotti and Christine about writing to me.

Letters from Europe are such a treat! Imre and Ellen had arranged to glve a cocktail party in my honor, not this past Saturday, but the Saturday before that. I couldn't go. here,

But

Sarah had fallen off her horse, and I had to stay

as she had a mild concussion.

-186-

When she fell,

she hit her

head on a tree branch.

Imre and Ellen were very nice about it.

We made it up last Saturday. at Imre's home -

it is beautiful.

Oriental rugs he has. Before the Park.

That was the first time I had been You should see the valuable

Everything is so comfortable.

party we went for a walk in the famous Central

To go there on a Saturday is rather unfashionable.

Ellen

said only the proletariat and refugees stay in New York during the weekend.

There is a big lake in the park, but, can you 1mag1ne,

it is surrounded by a metal fence three meters high!

People throw

rubbish allover the place, and everything looks unkempt and untidy. Today I have a hectic day. Breakfast and lunch and dinner.

There is so much rushing about. Sarah is feeling better, but she

still does not go to school, which means I have extra work to do. It is still very hot.

Before writing this letter,

I had a

cold bath and I feel better again. I will write again soon. gossip.

Don't forget to send me the latest

Has Hansie become engaged to Trudi yet?

How is Christine?

Much love and kisses, Tonus

October 17th Dear Mama! Thank you for your letter of the 14th. the mail from home arrives here so quickly.

-187-

It's wonderful that

My work here is taking much more of my time than I had imagined possible.

I have very little time to myself.

I'm not treated as

a servant, but as I'm the only live-in help, I have things to do all the time.

Mrs. R. is very nice and has given me a beautiful

coat for the winter. Unfortunately, in America.

I have not seen much of Imre since I arrived

He is extremely busy, but it

job that we see so little of each other.

really because of my

It was almost better

staying at home, at least I got letters from him and I didn't have to work so hard. He keeps telling me it's unnecessary for me to work at all, as we could get married right away.

I had to explain to him that

the contract with the R's is for a year; thanks to them I got here, and I have to honor my obligation. still,

it is very hard.

Customs here are so new to me.

Uncle Tibor says that people don't cling to anything here.

They

change their wives annually; if they don't like their children, they disinherit them and adopt some others.

When they move from

one town to another, they leave their furniture behind and buy new furniture (that is cheaper than having the furniture transported). Everything which is pre-War is called antique in some places. Firms proudly display they've been in existence for some twenty years.

But I have to say I find people much more polite than I

had expected. The children are more used to me now and are less trouble. still, they keep me very busy.

-188-

Yesterday I got terribly homesick. called Imre he was not at home. start to cry. again.

I cried a lot.

When I

sometimes I feel very sad and

Today I talked to Imre, and everything was fine

It is so beautiful that we have each other.

I can hardly

wait for this year to be over so that we can be married.

The R.'s

are lovely people, but this life here is really not for me. Take care of yourself.

write me and tell me everything that

is going on in your lives - tell me all the little details.

Greetings

to all. Love and hugs, Tonus ]

173.

At year-end Imre was invited to become a partner. indeed a solemn occasion.

It was

The senior partner of Peabury-Higgenson

made the announcement at a pre-Christmas luncheon at the uptown Brooks Club.

Earlier in the year Brayton, one of his partners,

had passed on,

and at the year end, Bayard was due to retire.

Georgie had first calIon buying a partnership interest - Uncle Ede was a limited partner Brayton's estate.

and he acquired his interest from

Imre took over Bayard's place.

The change brought many toasts - and a lot of paper-shuffling. Imre's eyes were wide open when he examined the partnership docu-

-189-

ments.

He had had no inkling about the Slze of Uncle Ede's in-

vestment. half.

It was two million dollars; Georgie's, a million and a

His own five-hundred thousand gave him only a two-percent

interest.

[These Americans have done quite well for themselves.

And I may never be able to catch up with Uncle Ede and Georgie. had no idea they had that kind of money.

Yes,

it'll be hard to

catch up with those two. ] Imre handed over the day-to-day arbitrage trading to Hugo, a Dutchman,

and Andre,

a Frenchman, graduates of Stanford and the

Sorbonne,

respectively.

Apart from their academic backgrounds,

the pair were qualified to work for Peabury-Higgenson on account of their good looks and impeccable sartorial appearance.

Many

traders on Wall street worked in shirt sleeves and rumpled outfits,

Boots of cocoa fame being one example.

eschewed expletives collars, ties,

and brown-bag lunches.

Hugo and Andre

They wore starched

custom-made suits and slightly flamboyant scarves and

just like Imre and Georgie, adding to the firm's reputation

as having the most distinguished-looking people on Wall street. Imre's work habits changed considerably,

although he con-

tinued to take part in the larger arbitrage decisions.

Perhaps

subconsciously compensating for experiences in the camps, he made his

life as comfortable as possible.

At a Manhattan cocktail

party he ran across the president of Rolls Royce carriages,

company which rented limousines to theater buffs and party-goers. He complained to Imre that much of his fleet lay idle during the day.

Out of this,

a pleasant arrangement developed:

-190-

Imre was

picked up at nine at his Fifth Avenue co-op.

While on the leisurely

trip downtown, he read the Wall street Journal and kept up with his traders on the car phone, arriving at nine-thirty prepared for the day.

He reversed the procedure at three twenty-five, arriving

home at four, whereupon he took a shower and a half-hour nap. six he plunged into reading art books and thrillers and,

later,

into his social activities, including Uncle Ede's regular weekly bridge parties. Tonus'

arrival had hardly changed this routine,

able to see her only every other weekend. ances were scrupulously observed.

Tonus

as he was

The required appearostensibly stayed at

Uncle Tibor's apartment and checked in with Mr. R. twice a day. On special occasions, her employer even allowed Tonus to stay 1n Manhattan Sunday night and return to work early Monday morning. Fueled by the long separation and their youthful passion, Imre and Tonus' romance flowered into a quiet, rich blossom. were late risers and rarely got out of bed before noon. would linger for hours over Beatrice's best brunch, happily served them before going home for the weekend.

Both

Then they which she On Satur-

day night they went over to Tibor's, where all the family gathered for dinner.

This was a command performance, and both Ellen and

Georgie and Imre and Tonus looked forward to these happy occasions immensely.

And at least once a month during the winter Janos, in

town with Elma,

joined them.

center of attention,

Of course Tibor loved to be the

regaling his children with stories of his

-191-

election campaigns, he is student pranks in Berlin and Paris, the lives of his parents and their parents' parents, gradually returning in his mind far back into history when the Chabaffys had reigned as potentates over independent Transylvania. At such a

family dinner, early in the spring, Janos again

brought up the necessity of more contact between Wall street and the Fed. - as he called the Federal Reserve System's Washington bank headquarters were called - where he had just been promoted to senior economist. customary energy.

Imre followed up Janos'

suggestion with his

The Investment Bankers Association already had

a Government Securities committee which was regularly consulting with the u.S. Treasury Department, and also occasionally with the Fed.

Both needed hard facts and figures about future financing

volume in the private sector. During the War the recruitment of young blood to refresh the old on Wall Street had corne to a virtual end.

From 1950 onward,

the need for fresh talent became acute, as old stalwarts, like the ones at Peabury & Higgenson, were either passing on or content to rest on their laurels.

Georgie and Imre were fortunate to be in

the vanguard of that rejuvenation process.

Both had attained

positions of influence which previous generations had reached much later in life.

Only the citadel of the old guard, the Investment

Bankers Association,

was slow to yield.

restless for power and influence,

But the young Turks,

had organized the Investment

Club of America, a sort of junior IBA.

Georgie had become one of

the first officers, and Imre was to set up its Government Securi-

-192-

ties Committee.

Imre went into this new task with a will.

flew to Washington and conferred with officials at the U.S. Treasury Department in charge of

u.s.

Government Financing, the Under-

Secretary for Monetary Affairs and one of the governors at the Fed.

At these meetings Imre laid the ground work for his committee.

Regular consultations were agreed upon, and the outline of information these agencies needed became crystalized. He returned to New York filled with keen anticipation.

seat on the senior committee had already been established as one of the most coveted prizes on the Street.

First-hand contact with

the financial powers in the nation's capital gave committee members a

feel of Washington's pulse which was of inestimable value to

underwriters of large bond and stock issues.

It helped in two

crucial ways: in timing, to avoid competition with major government financing,

and in pricing,

as pricing depended on feel,

outguessing down to the last decimal point the competition's bid on a particular issue. Imre was given the power to select about a dozen young investment bankers for a committee which, by all accounts, was to be more exciting and effective than the senior one. known that he had a winner.

He let it be

He received over forty applications.

Within a month Imre had assembled a stellar group of men who, he had made certain, were a credit to Wall Street and to his committee in Washington.

He balanced its composition with great care.

First, he invited representatives of the large investment banking firms, like Morgan Stanley, First Boston, Kidder Peabody and Salo-

-193-

mon Brothers. in

u.s.

friend,

Invitations to traders from leading firms dealing

government bonds followed.

He also invited a personal

Bill Middendorf, a trader in insurance stocks - insurance

companies were big holders of government securities.

The first

meeting in Washington was held in April and proved even more rewarding than Imre had dared hope for. The morning was devoted to the Imre's distinct pleasure,

u.s.

Treasury Department.

the committee received a professional

briefing on the nation's finances, complete with a slide presentation and a ream of statistics and graphs. up by a question-and-answer period. cost of the federal debt.

The briefing was wound

Issues were raised on the

Imre recalled that savings bonds were

the most stable and reliable source of government finance and also the cheapest.

A lively debate followed, during which it was pointed

out that millions of savers were getting a poor return on their money.

The Treasury spokesman practically admitted that savings-

bond holders were taken advantage of by the government, which was cheating its most loyal investors by giving them a below-market reward for their thrift.

Even that return,

remarked Imre, was

taxable, further lowering the Treasury's costs and savers' return. Imre set up a sumptuous lunch to which both senior officials of the Fed and Treasury were invited.

They were impressed by the

enthusiasm and earnestness of the committee members, who in turn were impressed by the seriousness with which they were being treated. The big surprise came in the afternoon, which was spent in the marble palace of the Fed, in the huge boardroom of the governors.

-194-

Imre was greeted by McChesney Martin, the Fed's veteran chairman. He was flanked by two other board members and a clutch of economists and aides - including Janos.

During lunch Imre had already

established a happy rapport with the chairman - by talking about tennis. sport.

Janos had tipped him off in advance about his boss' favorite His wife,

Janos had explained, was the daughter of the

Mr Davis who had founded the Davis cup, and he had a court close to the Fed, where he played a great game with various members of his staff as well as the British ambassador.

As Martin asked

everyone to be seated around the enormous table,

Imre winked at

Janos, whose advance briefings had paid off so well. "Gentlemen,1I said the chairman of the Fed, discussion,

as he opened the

"to make the afternoon more interesting to you,

for

the purposes of this meeting imagine that you are the members of this board and that you have assembled here for the purpose of deciding the discount rate.

Imre's heart began to beat faster.

The Fed's discount rate

was the key to all other interest rates in the nation. "The entire gentlemen.

staff is available to answer your questions,

You may," and here he pointed toward the wall, which

was hung with enormous charts covering every conceivable maj or economic index,

"consult these for your convenience.

Don't hesi-

tate to ask any questions you like." Imre replied without hesitation: "What we propose, if you agree, is for each committee member to take his turn in answering, sion.

and then I'll sum up the discus-

A vote will follow." -195-

"That seems alright with US,II Martin said after looking questioningly at his fellow board members.

They nodded in agreement.

"Please proceed." "I'll call upon our deputy-chairman to get the ball rolling,1I Imre said, pointing to his right to Larry Baker of Morgan Stanley, the first person he had picked for the committee. Larry cleared his throat and asked the first question. Fired by the excitement of the occasion and emboldened by the trust put in them, the committee members asked all the right questions, or so it seemed to Imre. three hours.

The fascinating discussions lasted

Imre took the poll of his committee.

IIMr. Chairman,1I he announced, leaning on the highly polished mahagony table which mirrored his hands and forearm.

IIWe voted

not to change it. 1I The next morning,

to the discreet hum of the Rolls,

Imre

opened up his Wall street Journal, and his glance fell on a small item on the front page. [ At the regular meeting of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors held yesterday morning,

the Board voted to leave the

discount rate unchanged. ] IIS 0 our meeting was its exact re-enactment!

Imre felt that,

just two years after his arrival in American, he was at the gate of the inner citadel of the world's greatest power.

-196-

174.

The Saturday dinner after Imre's return from Washington was a festive occaSlon.

In addition to Imre and Tonus, Ellen and Georgie

and Ian and Elma and Janos, three more guests showed up: Uncle Ede and Tommy.

Dianne,

Ian was delighted to see Tommy again.

hadn't seen his schoolmate since that memorable dash back to Budapest in advance of the Nazi invasion.

Ian had learned that Tommy

was a fourth-year medical student at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He wanted to become a brain surgeon. Imre thought that the unusually high spirits reflected his first successful foray to Washington.

He didn't notice that Papi

and Ellen and Georgie's faces all shone with a private light-hearted happiness. When Dianne arrived after the others, was

interrupting

she realized that she

a Magyar story-telling session,

in which one

member of the family or another told a joke and another promptly tried to top it.

In Dianne's honor Papi immediately switched to

Enlgish and spoke i t for the rest of the evening. prevent Ellen and Georgia and Imre, holding hands with her,

This didn't

sitting next to Tonus and

from sneaking a few words in Magyar from

time to time, which Ian diligently translated for Dianne. When a southern-style, triple-layer chocolate cake, a favorite creation of Beatrice's, was brought in, Papi rose and lifted his wine glass.

-197-

"Georgie has an announcement to make!" he said solemnly. Elma looked with surprise at her sister sitting across the table.

with a twin's instinct she knew what was coming.

Georgie, usually not at a loss for words, managed to utter only a few: "I have asked Uncle Tibor for Ellen's hand in marriage. " Everybody jumped up. a prolonged embrace.

Hugs were given in Magyar fashion, with

It was one of those happy occasions in which

a whole family's expectations had come true.

It had come sooner,

perhaps, than Imre and Ian had expected, but everyone present knew that Ellen had carried the torch for Georgie.

Little suspicions

that she had carried it too obviously were quickly suppressed: her dream had come true.

It was a joy to celebrate life in the new

land in a true Chabaffy fashion. "When?" Dianne Whispered in Ian's ear.

He pretended not to

understand who the question had been addressed to and repeated it aloud.

When the words came out of his mouth, he instantly realized

he shouldn't have uttered them. "Next month,

replied Georgie in high humor.

That called for another round of toasts. Ian moved away from Dianne and sat next to Tommy.

For several

minutes the conversation between the old friends meandered in a directless channel, old magic was back.

switching from subject to subject.

Then the

Their faces lit up with the recognition that

soon they would be brothers-in-law. and feelings flowed effortlessly.

From then on memories, ideas

Tommy urged Ian to finalize his

-198-

divorce and come visit him in Baltimore. summary,

sketchy fashion,

very first time.

Ian was even able, in a

to talk about his long march for the

In return, Tommy confided to him about the pros-

titute he had fallen in love with.

Ian tried to revive Magyar

memories, but for Tommy the break was complete.

He didn't wish to

remember the Nazis, the holocaust he had escaped from, the sunlit weekends in the country, the classes at school, the raw beauty of the earth, his mother who had stayed behind.

Ian tried them all,

but when he noticed the sadness in Tommy's eyes, he dropped any further Magyar talk.

He began to ask him in a lively fashion

about his life in America, as if eager to show his friend that he was out of the past and back in the present. The wedding was held at the Brick Church on Park Avenue, only a few blocks from where the Chabaffys, Uncle Ede and Imre lived. Uncle Ede gave the newlyweds a princely gift:

a co-op on Park

Avenue, on the corner of 90th street, conveniently close to where the various members of the two families, now intermarried, lived. Georgie had proposed a huge, catered reception at the Plaza Hotel.

At Ellen's pleading, he accepted Imre's offer to have it

at his new home. the reception.

Beatrice was perhaps the happiest of all about Ellen insisted that she come as a guest.

This

surprised some of the partners of Peabury-Higgenson, who had shown up in full force, but Ellen made light of it.

When Countess Szechenyi,

a granddaughter of Commodore Vanderbilt and a distant aunt of the Chabaffy children, shook hands with the American maid, even Imre's partners relented.

-199-

Seven months later, Ellen presented Georgie with twin daughters. Georgie's giving way to Ellen's wishes about the location of their wedding reception had,

it turned out, been symbolic.

months, he had become truly uxurious.

In seven

While Ellen deftly deferred

to him in public and let him appear the Magyar seigneur, at home her wishes, plans and ideals became the couple's driving force. Back from the hospital, Ellen handed the babies to the nurse as Georgie watched the bewitching curve of her neck. "God bless America," he said quietly. "Thank God for America," added Ellen, "From here there is no place we have to go." As the new parents walked out of the nursery, Georgie's face lit up with his old mischevious grln: "Oh, yes there is," he said and picked Ellen up and carried her into the bedroom in his arms.

-200-

CHAPTER THIRTY KIDNAPPED

Life had been made up of the same conditions before, but then those conditions had seemed to him all of a piece, whereas now they had all fallen apart. Tolstoi She loves you always, no matter whom she loves, where she goes, she loves you more. Hemingway ]

175.

Imre stepped out to the large terrace of his apartment overlooking Central Park.

The trees were in full bloom.

The lights

of apartment houses on the West side shimmered ln the still, warm darkness.

The scene reminded Imre of a boyhood experience: a

torch-light procession in Budapest before the war in honor of a papal visit.

He had been a boy scout then, marching in that mag-

nificent parade.

Now he was an over-seer of the even more gran-

diose spectacle: the Manhattan skyline at night.

-201-

Everything was a miracle to Imre: the miracle of survival; the miracle of America; the miracle of being in America; the miracle of Tonus sleeping in his bed, right behind him; the miracle of wealth;

the miracle of the Chabaffy clan,

together on free

soil; the miracle of being able to rest, without fear or arrest; the miracle of health, of ease, rid of the wounds and disease of the past, of a tortured continent; The miracle of love.

Imre recalled his favorite American

poet.

[ As to me I know nothing else but miracles, Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky Or wade with naked feet along the beach just at the edge of water, Or stand under trees in the woods, Or talk by day with anyone I love, or sleep in the bed at night with anyone I love, Or sit at a table at dinner with the rest.

[ Yes, ] thought Imre. move and feel.

[ My wounds are healed.

My muscles are whole.

My fingers

My sanity is whole.

I'm in

tune with the universe. ] He remembered wistfully his first night with Tonus, on the second weekend she was in Manhattan.

She had been reading a book.

Imre had crept up behind her and begun kissing the nape of her neck.

She had shivered,

then reached upward with her hand to

touch his hand resting on her shoulder.

-202-

He had stood there for a

long time kissing her shoulders, her neck, savoring the fragrance of her hand.

But her demons from Dachau had begun to gallop through

her mind, despite Imre's kissing. She had kept shivering.

She had fixed on the memory of the

ice-cold water, the ice-cold skeletal body of Imre, of his broken eyes gazing at her nakedness, of coming back to life in Dachau, of being unfrozen there, of feeling love again, but feeling it there. Then she had shivered at the recollection of Imre's letter. still kisses. her lap.

Imre had kept trying to overcome her memories with

He had kneeled down next to her chair and put his head in But the demons had kept haunting her; the demon of fear,

of infertility, of sin, of guilt, of selt-Iaceration. Imre hadn't given up.

Tonus'

freezing on first arr1v1ng in

New York had been worse than her freezing in Dachau. her mind, not her body, had frozen. through her.

This time

Strange demons had swirled

But Imre had kept kissing her softly, with tender

sensitivity, with loving devotion.

Then Tonus' tears had broken

loose, falling on Imre, flooding over the past, present and future. And still Imre had kept kissing her. Now Imre stood on the terrace overlooking Manhattan.

[That

weekend was a miracle, ] he thought.

He had kissed her until her

sobs subsided into a blessed sleep.

He had kissed her when she

was asleep and when she woke up that first morning, which they spent together in his new home among the proud towers of the great city.

-203-

It was not until that Sunday afternoon that Tonus had whispered, still crying, but now with joy:

"Hold me!"

Imre stepped back from the balcony into the bedroom.

Before

he pulled the drapes together, he looked at Tonus' features in the dim light. [ It is a miracle, ] he thought. He took off his dressing gown and slid into the bed, measuring his skin with the length of hers. The next morning Imre nuzzled Tonus awake, biting her earlobes. "Let's get married right away, my love." "That's impossible." "I don't want to wait any longer." "We can do it in June. \I "On your birthday?\I "Whatever you say." "We'll announce it tomorrow." "I'll write Mama. \I "We'll tell Papi right away." "I love you." "I adore you."

176.

Soon after his return from Texas, Big Brown gave Ian a new assignment.

He asked him to follow the stocks of banks.

-204-

A survey

of the firm's domestic and overseas customers revealed that u.s. bank stocks were among the most widely held and so far, no one at B.G. Brown had paid any attention to them. Ian plunged into the study of American banking with zest. Magyarland,

a handful of banks virtually controlled the market,

and the situation was the same in Canada, most of Europe and much of the rest of the world.

Not so in the United states.

Each

state had its own flock of banks, banks usually prohibited from owning other banks in other states.

The most important flock of

banks roosted in the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan. Ian's study coincided with the season of annual stockholder meetings.

To his surprise many of them were attended by fewer

than two dozen people, invariably men.

On more than one occasion

he found himself the only person present who was not connected with the bank. tions.

As he gained experience,

Ian began to ask ques-

To some of the bank officials these questions might have

appeared superfluous, irrelevant, even outrageous and impertinent. What was the director's compensation?

How much was the fee the

bank's attorney and accountant had earned? loans were made to big companies? to buy automobiles? decrease?

What proportion of the

What proportion for small clients

Did the business of the bank increase or

What was the amount of loan losses?

Many of his ques-

tions were answered with raised eyebrows and amid sputters.

Others

were denied on the basis that disclosure would benefit competitors. Before long,

however,

he discovered that he could get the

answers to his unanswered questions when he mentioned that he

-205-

represented Big Brown's clients. of bank stocks.

Some of these held awesome amounts

In some troublesome areas,

answers were available elsewhere. ple,

he discovered, the

The Clearing House,

for exam-

through which every single check had to clear, kept, with

German efficiency,

wonderful records.

There Ian found that the

two most important figures to know related to return on capital that is, on the stockholders' investments -

and to the trend of

deposits, which indicated whether the bank was growing, or stagnating, or going downhill. With all this information in hand, Ian drew some conclusions. One of the first related to the Manhattan Company. he found.

Originally it was a water company,

allowed it to do virtually any business. encouraging result.

He liked what

but its charter

Ian's report had an

Customers bought several blocks of stocks.

Some of the largest orders came from overseas, the Scottish Investment trusts -

an invention of the Scots - and the trust de-

partments of the big three Swiss banks. Big Brown didn't say much but some of the department heads marked Ian down as an upcoming young man.

Miss Waterman,

for

whose customer he had gone to Texas, became an early admirer. Reports recommending the purchase of other bank stocks followed.

They had a sort of cumulative effect.

The orders became

substantial enough to reach the highest councils of the partnership.

At Christmas Ian got a bonus -

princely sum -

five hundred dollars,

he had never had that much money all at once.

also received quarterly bonuses.

-206-

a He

The salesmen whose income de-

pended solely on their commissions based on the volume of business of their accounts, began to court his attention.

One day, to Big

Brown's own surprise, the pension fund of the Hook Chemical Company - Brown was the chairman of the executive committee - bought a large chunk of a bank at Ian's recommendation. Miss Waterman was the first to suggest that Ian try to find some bank stocks to sell.

The sales would be balanced by purchases

of bank stocks Ian liked.

The clients would get rid of a lemon

and B.C. Brown would earn double commissions, one on the sales, the other on the purchases. Ian.

Everybody would benefit,

including

Right? Wrong! A number of objections were raised.

any bank could do poorly.

How is it possible that

After all, banks dealt ln money,

cash, raking in the difference between what the money cost them, and the amount of interest it earned on it in the form of loans. Right? Wrong! Ian remembered some of the starched collars, the raised eyebrows,

the

clenched teeth,

questions caused.

the indignant mutterings which his

He pored over his figures all marching in due

order over huge expanses of paper. parities.

He found some startling dis-

Some banks were really going downhill.

These were the

banks where, in Ian's experience, the eyebrows were raised highest, where the mutterings became snarls and where the escape-hatch disclosure would benefit competitors - was not frequently used.

-207-

Quite simply,

Ian learned that the difference between good

banks and the not-so-good was people, people in management.

These

were the very people who had answered his questions at annual meetings and with increasing frequency, at private interviews he had politely, but insistently if needed, initiated. And people were Ian's real expertise.

He had enjoyed study-

ing his classmates in school; he had plumbed humanity's depth in poetry; he had watched people under stress, the stress of hostile occupations, hunger, even mortal peril; he had measured Nazi hunters and Russian commissars; he had courted thousands of voters; and most recently he had questioned refugees and defectors.

He had

had to know the genuine and the counterfeit. Now Ian had developed an instinct for the superior bank managements and the underperformers.

Here in the united states, he

had the immeasurable advantage of open information.

The facts

were, if not at his fingertips, at least spread over his big sheets of paper.

And he had access to bank presidents.

After all, he

represented the shareholders, Big Brown's clients who theoretically at least were the bosses.

It was the shareholders who elected

the president and other directors, not the other way around. When Miss Waterman suggested Ian find some banks whose shares could be sold, he didn't have far too go.

They were right on his

sheets of paper, and literally around the corner from the offices of B.G. Brown and Company. Ian approached his quarry with caution. immediate boss first.

He talked to his

He suggested consultations, as he was not

-208-

the kind to make decisions.

Ian consulted.

The department head

most concerned, the manager of the Foreign Department, was enthusiastic about a sell recommendation. "We have no competition in that field," he said, rubbing his hands in anticipation of the commissions he would get. "Boy,

just tell us a day or so in advance," remarked the

head-trader. Ian wrote a very short report, all of one page. were damning.

The bank lost deposits.

was the lowest.

The figures

The return for stockholders

It was going downhill fast.

The management were

man-eating tigers, but Ian was careful to avoid making judgments on personalities. "You must be obj ective, stick to facts," his boss had insisted. To balance the sale with a buy recommendation, Ian selected a bank of gargantuan reputation: J.P. Morgan & Company. the people across the street from his office. young Turks there and the top people, too. they were his kind of people.

Ian liked

He knew some of the

His instinct told him

He could not put his finger on the

facts, but on his spread sheets they looked good. His boss suggested the report should not be printed on the usual white paper, but on green.

A partner suggested no more than

one hundred copies should be printed.

Miss Waterman suggested it

should be marked Confidential - Not to be used outside the office under any circumstances. report was a sellout.

All these precautions were adopted.

The

within an hour Ian barely managed to rescue

one copy for his file.

-209-

The very next morning the orders started to pour in.

The

bank I an had recommended for sale was a big bank and had many shareholders.

It became big because it used to be good.

lived on its past reputation. blocks to sell.

Now it

The Foreign Department had huge

Their orders came in at the crack of dawn,

Europeans were five hours ahead of Wall street because of the difference in time zones. was next with a frantic.

A large insurance company in Hartford

five figure block.

The trading department was

It was the biggest order ever received in a bank stock.

Then the bombshell fell. His boss told Ian, "Mr. Brown wants to see you. ing fire.

breath-

Ian was holding his head high when he sat down in the chair next to Big Brown's roll-top desk. man at a loss for words before.

He had never seen the great

That morning Mr.

Brown was.

"I got a call a few minutes ago," he said after a pause. longer the pause, the jumpier Ian became. your report on the Guaranty Trust stock."

The

"About you know what He hesitated.

"From whom?" asked Ian, helping Big Brown to proceed. "From Luther Cleveland ... you know ... the president of the Guaranty Trust." "How did he know?

We had marked it Confidential and we know

where every single copy went!" Ian shot back. for! "

-210-

"It's all accounted

"On the street there are no secrets," replied Big Brown ruefully.

"There will be someone out there who wants to do a favor

for Mr. Cleveland." The Guaranty Trust was the biggest bank on Wall street. Cleveland was the biggest boss.

Mr.

The bank had the business of the

blue-chip corporations of America.

Mr. Cleveland sat on the boards

of many of these blue-chip corporations.

It had a huge trust

department and was in a position to hand out (or withhold) favors to firms like B.G. Brown by doing the trust department's stock trading through whomever Mr. Cleveland looked upon with favor. There was more. "Your recommendation was right,

son.

No problems there."

Big Brown scratched the side of his head. Ian looked at him expectantly. be fired.

He knew it then.

At least he was not g01ng to

What worse could happen?

"You see, my son," he said at last.

"We have a twelve mil-

lion line of credit with the Guaranty Trust ... margin customers ... Twelve million? for Big Brown.

It 1S for our

That I might find hard to replace." Ian was thunderstruck.

He almost felt sorry

He had managed to alienate the only person on Wall

street to whom even Big Brown was beholden! "We'll see, son, what ... " he didn't finish the sentence.

Ian was getting up from the hot seat, Mr. Brown added, almost as an afterthought, "Mr. Cleveland wants to see you!" That was the bone Big Brown threw to Cleveland when the bank president was breathing fire at him!

-211-

Ian had to walk into the lion's den that afternoon at 3 o'clock. He had twisted the lion's tail.

And the lion had roared.

Ian was ushered into the august presence punctually at ten past three.

He was left to cool his heels for ten minutes in the

oak-panelled enclosure of Cleveland's faithful secretary. Cleveland's office had more oak panelling and a vast expanse of oriental rug. in Moscow.

It was an office the size Janos' commissar had

There was a crystal chandelier, portraits of fierce

looking tycoons on the walls above an ornate dest, and an even fiercer looking bank president behind the desk. "How dare you ... ! II

The words tried to come out like the

breath of a flame-thrower, the kind Ian had seen in the streets of Budapest. What Ian saw now was a green sheet of paper resting on top of Cleveland's desk.

Ian didn't budge.

Secret Police couldn't intimidate him. would not.

The SS men and the Russian Certainly this septegenerian

Ian didn'.t say anything.

The silence deepened.

Ian then realized that the august eyes

were darting over the paragraphs of his report.

He was glad now

that every sentence, every word was chosen with care. and double-checked his figures with equal care. right.

He had nothing to fear.

He checked

He knew he was

Nothing at all.

"S0 that is your opinion?" he asked at last staring at his visitor. "Yes, Sir, II I an shot back.

-212-

"That is all."

It sounded like an echo.

When Ian returned to B.G. Brown and Company, Big Brown had already gone home.

The next morning Ian gave him a report.

A week later the great man called for him again. "You see him more

often than

do," his boss muttered.

"Guaranty Trust did not pull our line of credit. Brown said, with a ghost of a smile on his face,

In fact," Big "they offered to

increase it."

177.

June was a joyous month for the Chabaffys. The clan was getting ready to celebrate the wedding of Imre and Tonus to be held on June 30th, her twenty-fourth birthday. Imre hadn't realized the many details needing attention.

He had

plenty of help: Ann's quiet efficiency, the twins' bubbly enthusiasm, Papi's smiles, the Magyar colony's excitement and Ian's calm. Tonus was flushed with joy. mony was to be held.

She didn't care where the cere-

The Magyars had a little church, st. Stephen's,

in Yorkville not far from Imre' s home.

Father Tabori,

Imre' s

headmaster from Budapest, was to celebrate the nuptial mass.

The

Piarist College in Budapest where all the Chabaffys had been educated, had been closed as a "center of subversion," and most of the priests had been sent into exile.

Father Tabori had been

dispatched by the Rome center of the Piarists' to the United States

-213-

to set up new schools in the new land from a base in Washington, D.C.

In wondrous ecumenical spirit, Father Istvan, who had arrived

in New York City with Imre, agreed to bless the bridal couple's new home. Ian was sitting in the eye of the excitement. ment was in a continuous uproar. with his brother.

He wished he could change places

A recent happening with Dianne had brought the

difference between her and Tonus into focus. he had gone over to the de la Tour triplex. there.

The previous weekend He found only Dianne

The rest of the family had taken off for the first weekend

of summer on Long Island.

He had begun to kiss Dianne.

kiss his desire for her had increased.

with happy anticipation.

with each

She had felt his strength

against her thigh and unzipped his pants.

wi th a

Papi's apart-

Ian had been filled

still kissing Ian, she had held him and

few practiced movements brought him to climax.

He had

nearly fainted, but held onto her shoulders. "Why?" was all he was able to say. II

I learned this at college ...

It quieted you down, didn't

it?" From that moment on, Ian couldn't picture a future with Dianne. He realized he didn't love her. made sense to her didn't to him. and why so ...

so cold-blooded,

He only understood her.

What

He understood what she had done

so hard and unexpected,

so expert,

He was thinking of the right adjective to describe it,

without much success.

-214-

He had felt humiliated and frustrated. the incident, even forget Dianne. her as a bridesmaid. direction.

He tried to forget

H couldn't very well disinvite

Then again his feelings tugged him in her

He sensed Dianne regretted what she had done, too.

piece of paper which fell out of her large handbag revealed to him that she had made an appointment with a gynocologist.

From what-

ever point of view he looked at her, she was not Tonus and certainly not Maria.

And he was not Imre.

His brother seemed further and further away. brother's doing,

but his own.

Sibling rivalry?

He didn't know.

his universal popularity.

Would was it?

It was not his

Envy?

Jealousy?

What he noticed about Imre was

He had the princely quality of hearing

people out, letting them think, feel and see their own individual way,

letting relationships flow.

This was a rare quality in a

Magyar, and only a recent one which he had developed ... yes ... in Dachau.

Before the

German invasion,

Ian remembered independent

opinions used to upset his brother. l

Not any more. L

People who met him now instinctively felt his

sympathy and compassion. cared.

He was really interested.

He really

Undoubtedly this was the secret of his phenomenal career

on Wall Street.

The quarrelsome relations between Magyars, their

prejudices and the rivalries between his partners,

Imre took in

stride with an understanding, gentle smile. [ Why can't I be like Imre? much admired! ]

Rich,

famous,

and so happy, so

Ian kept feeling he was on the periphery of life,

not in the center.

-215-

One Saturday evening Papi, Ann, Georgie, Ellen and Uncle Ede arrived in quick succession for dinner. room.

Ian went into the living

Ann had prepared his favorite drink,

to be told only once, then she knew.

a daiquiri.

Ann had

Ian didn't have to tell her

that he was ready to have a drink.

She knew.

She was that kind

of a woman. The telephone rang constantly.

The Schwarz family couldn't

exist without checking in almost hourly with every child, COUS1n, brother and sister over the telephone.

Nothing of much conse-

quence was discussed, but the constant contact gave them a tribal security.

As soon as Uncle Ede put down the receiver, the phone

rang for Papi.

Then for Imre.

Ian was getting used to it.

This

went on most of the time. Imre had also arrived at last.

Only Tonus was missing.

and Uncle Ede got into a lively political discussion. from home was bad, one disaster after another. was in full swing. ministers, econom1C

Four high officials,

had been arrested. enslavement

The news

Stalinist terror

including two cabinet

The church was persecuted.

Magyarland

was

Papi

effect

The

Russian

colonization. Amid all the gloom Ian was glad to hear that Papi kept reaffirming the Magyars would pull through the Russian occupation. After all, the Turks had occupied the land for a hundred and fifty years. "As the blacks now say," Papi said solemnly, "we shall overcome.

-216-

Ian felt patience didn't apply to Magyarland's present situation. At the end of his discourse Papi turned toward Imre. wonder where little Tonus is?1I

II I

To him everybody of his children's

age was IIlittle. 1I IIDon't worry, Papi, she should be here any minute, II replied Imre.

IIRecently she has found the kids to be quite troublesome. II IIDinner can wait, II Ann remarked soothingly to no one in

particular. Ian walked up to Baron Schwarz. stories, Uncle Ede.

IITel1 us one of your Aristid

Please! II

II I don't know any new ones, II he protested. Ian loved Uncle Ede's Aristid stories which spoofed the ar1Stocracy.

The baron had an inexhaustible supply of jokes.

Ian,

who was not good at remembering them, could still recall one that Uncle Ede had come up with last Sunday. tiger hunting in India. luck hold?"

Aristid returned from

Someone at the club asked him: IIDid your

1I0f course, II replied Aristid.

"I managed to avoid

them all!" IIThen tell us an old one, II I an persisted. IIHave you heard the one about Aristid having a terrible run of cards at the club?1I "Let's hear it! II Ellen exclaimed. "After losing his cash, his gold watch and his ring, Aristid offers his young wife as the next stake, II Uncle Ede began. loses again and hands the key to his house to the winner. minutes later, the winner returns to the club.

-217-

"He

Fifteen

'You cheat, you

swindler!' he shouts at the astonished loser.

'You put your wife

as a stake and when I get to your house, I catch her in a hot embrace with 'Why? '

Samuel.'

'That's

impossible,'

retorts

Aristid.

'I have never played cards with Samuel in all my life! ' "

That moment Tonus entered the apartment.

Imre looked at her,

and he knew there was something wrong. "Look," she said and handed over a yellow piece of paper. "What is it, my dear?" Tibor asked, getting up to greet her. "Papi," she replied - that's the way she called Prince Tibor at his and Imre's urging - "I just got this telegram." "When?" asked Imre. "A few minutes ... " replied Tonus haltingly with tears in her eyes, "just when I was leaving the house." "Who is it from?" asked Ellen. "Let me read it to you," said Imre. "It's from Uncle Egon. ill.

There

It says:

'Your mother is seriously

a possibility she may not live.

Please come home. ' "

178.

Imre stayed calm. usual.

He took Tonus to his home earlier than

It was plain to see she wanted to be alone with him.

The family had studiously avoided giving Tonus any advice. Only I an couldn't help exclaiming:

-218-

"This can't be true!"

When they got to the apartment, Imre gently put Tonus to bed. She was not herself. with her.

She let Imre hold her, but desire was not

All night Imre kept churning in the bed.

slept fitfully.

In the morning,

desire seized him.

Tonus also

Imre woke up first.

A violent

He slid up to Tonus and began to kiss her.

Tonus woke with a start.

Usually she liked nothing better than

being brought back from her dreams by his kisses.

Now she turned

her face aside. liMy mother

dying and all you can think about

sex!" she

exclaimed angrily. He was taken aback. before.

I sn' t

She had never talked to him that way

this what you need?

Passionate lovemaking so

burning that you'll forget your mother,

forget everything?

Once

we have made love you will feel whole and can look at everything ~n

a different light.

Tonus didn't look at it that way at all. coming on. enough. II

She felt uncomfortable and tired.

She had her period She hadn't slept

She felt hurt and vulnerable.

I don't know what to do,

she said still angry.

Imre got out of bed and put on his dressing gown. hurt, l.

rejected,

and bewildered.

He felt

[Why did this have to happen

only two weeks before our wedding?

I know exactly what I should

tell her, and I don't want to do it.

I know she is very close to

her mother.

She lost her father at a very early age; she told me

she barely remembers him.

Her mother was her father and mother,

unless you could call Uncle Egon her father.

-219-

She had her fights

with Aunt Julia, but I know she loves her a great deal ... I'm going to be her husband very soon

She better learn fast

that I should come first in her life ... second to no one, not even her mother. ] to himself.

Now

Yes

I'm first ...

Imre kept these thoughts

[ I have to stay calm. ]

He stepped into the bathroom which had an old fashioned extralong tub on one side and a row of built in cupboards with louvered doors on the other.

He shaved with slow deliberation.

himself by patting his cheeks.

He calmed

He doused himself with Chanel

aftershave and returned to the bedroom. Tonus was still in bed and looked miserable.

"I don't know

what to do!" she kept saying again and again. Imre felt it was more prudent not to say anything yet. with a lot of commotion she rearranged the pillows and sat up against them.

She folded her hands and looked at Imre.

"Darling,

say something!" she fretted when she could not bear his silence any longer. "What can I say?" he asked cautiously. "What do you think I should do?" "It's a devil of a situation, my love." "Please help me, darling." "You know I'd do anything for you." "I know you would.

She recros sed her hands and continued:

"You've always been so kind to me "Don't be sorry.

I'm sorry."

I've qui te enj oyed it."

"I see I wasn't mad enough at you. "

"What do you mean?" "Well, if you quite enjoyed it when I was mad at you." "You were never really angry with me, were you?" Tonus smiled.

Imre was glad she did.

This was her first

smile of the day. "Perhaps not.

But I am now."

"Why?" "Because you just stand there and don't tell me any words of wisdom. " Imre crouched down and leaning his arm on the bed took Tonus' hand.

"Let's be serious, my love" he said earnestly, looking into

her eyes.

"I told you I would do anything for you.

very much and I hate to see you leave. advice is: go back. ill.

See your mother.

I love you

with that introduction, my I do not believe she is so

Quite frankly, I don't believe she is sick at all.

can't afford to take a chance.

But you

Should she really pass on, you'd

never forgive yourself for not answering the call.

This may be

the last opportunity for you to see her." "I know," said Tonus disconsolately. "Of course I'll book you on the next flight, and you can be back in time for our wedding. " She let that pass. "I'm not pleased at all.

I hate leaving this

"I bought this place with you in mind. " "And I hate parting from you most." immediately, she continued: a real Magyar man.

When Imre didn't answer

"Oh, you'll soon forget me.

Naturally fickle." -221-

You are

"That wasn't very nice." "But it's true ... you can't deny you have a weakness for flirtation." Imre began to feel very uneasy.

She was entering a minefield.

[ Does she realize what she is doing? ] She went on heedless.

"You are like all Magyar men."

He looked straight in her eyes. judgment on that."

"Be pleased to make your own

And attempting to steer the dangerous course

of the conversation into a new channel he added lightly: flirtation anyway? "Oh,

"What is

Quite undefinable."

it is?1I said Tonus.

"Aunt Pauline told me once that

flirtation is an agreeable conversation with a member of the opposi te sex wi thout giving ita second thought." "Since when is she an authority ... ?" "You'd be surprised to know.

I heard it whispered that she

flirted with more men than any other lady in Imperial Vienna." "What else did this authority say about flirtation?1I Tonus smiled aga1n. "Tell me!

"You don't expect me to remember everything she told me on the subject." "Of course there isn't much she could teach you! Imre said this, he regretted saying it. rejoinder and tease her in the bargain.

It was now he who led

She still smiled.

-222-

The moment

He tried to give a clever

them onto a minefield. "Do you mean in a nasty way?1I

Imre got the cue and answered hastily.

"Not at all ... Not

at all!" After a short pause she put her hand on his. a few more words Aunt Pauline said.

"I do remember

It went something like this:

flirtation is the blending of moods,

its a secret exchange of

glances,

it adds new and exciting meaning to very commonplace

phrases.

And - it flourishes allover the world. "

Imre got up from his crouch and sat on the bed looking at Tonus. "Are we flirting now?" "But of course, my darling!" He bent down and kissed her on the lips. She held his lips. He slid his dressing gown off and pulled down the bedcover. Tonus lay there invitingly.

The first night she had slipped into

bed with an elaborate snow white nightgown.

Imre didn't wear

pajamas.

That's how she lay

there now.

The next time Tonus slept naked too.

Tonus had never been so passionate before.

a desperation in both of them,

There was

a sorrowful foreknowledge which

added a special fierce tenderness to their love play.

After their

first crest of passion,

Imre got hold of her and rolled her over

onto the carpet with him.

The world looked different down there.

"Any second thoughts?" "You beast!" He plunged into her with new vigor.

-223-

Much later Imre made coffee out of freshly ground Columbian beans.

Tonus put four croissants into the oven and delved into

the refrigerator for sweet butter and the whipped cream Beatrice got twice a week from a Magyar pastry shop.

They busied them-

selves out of habit and also to avoid thinking about Tonus' trip back to Europe. At the end of brunch, Tonus wiped her lips with the white Irish linen napkin and sighed:

"I still don't know what to do?"

"Let's call your mother," Imre cried. at home first.

"I'll try getting her

Do you remember the number?"

The transatlantic telephone call didn't help making a decision. They had already made up their minds and were trying to get a confirmation of their decision.

Tonus' mother was sick,

"very

sick," they were told, but apparently not sick enough to be in the hospital.

The connection was poor and much of the voluble German

at the other end was lost on them. "You better go, my love.

I'll get you a return ticket tomor-

row and I'll send your mother a cable giving your flight number and time of arrival.

Does Pan American fly to Vienna?"

"Try Austrian Airlines," remarked Tonus. "Did you talk to Mr. R.?" "Not yet. " "He won't like it very much. " "I don't like it at all." "Nor do I." "I don't want to go, darling."

-224-

179.

Tonus stepped out of the plane at Shannon, Ireland, her Transatlantic stopover. card.

She went into the gift shop and bought a post-

She addressed it to Imre.

"I love you forever.

That's all there was to her message.

T."

She wiped a tear out of

her eye and dropped it into the mailbox along with the card. It was nine in the morning European time, but only four 1n the morning in New York. slept an hour. to bear.

She had barely

The emotional wrench of leaving Imre was too much

She shivered allover when she re-embarked for the flight

to Vienna. almost fell airport.

Tonus was exhausted.

She had barely touched the breakfast and lunch.

She

into the limousine that was waiting for her at the

The trip to Salzburg was a long one.

Her mother greeted her at the modest house of the Dadians in the outskirts of Salzburg.

She had moved from Graz to be near her

brother after her two oldest daughters had been married and Tonus had left for America. She allowed Tonus to collapse in her bed, where she slept fitfully for nearly ten hours. "I'm glad you have returned, my dearest," she greeted Tonus when she woke up. "How are you?

You seem to be better!"

"You look perfectly well to me. " "I am.

I needed you back.

Aren't you glad to be with you

poor mother again?"

-225-

IIYes,

replied Tonus uncertainly.

lIyou belong here! II

I belong to Imre! II said Tonus bewildered.

"You weren't happy in America,

retorted her mother severely.

II I love Imre, II said Tonus on the verge of tears. lIyou wrote ... your letters, Tonus.

In almost every letter.

you wrote, you said that life there was not for you ... you were full of complaints ... it in America

I knew before you left you wouldn't like

I agree with you, it's not for you! II

IIBut ... II IIThink it over, Tonus.

You'll have plenty of time to think

it over. II III don't,1I she said in despair.

III'm getting married on the

thirtieth. II IICalm down

We'll discuss it later. II

She left the house.

An hour later Tonus was still not calm. even more agitated than before.

In fact she became

Her mother returned around noon

and took her to lunch at a restaurant near the palace of the archbishop. IIAfter lunch we'll go see Uncle Egon.

He is looking forward

to seeing you. II II I'm happy to see IIGood!

Now let's order some lunch.

I recommend the veal-

cutlet. II At the dessert Tonus couldn't contain herself any longer. love Imre and I want to go back to him. II

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III

"Are you his lover?" she asked sharply. "Well ... we are getting ... " "So you became a whore!

Or did he seduce you?"

"It wasn't like that at all!" "Please don't shout. care.

Everybody can hear you. II

"I don't

I want to go back!" "You can't. II IIWhy not?" lIyou need a re-entry visa. II "A what?" Tonus nearly fainted. "Please collect yourself.

Aunt Julia said severely. 1S

lilt

Don't forget you are a Dadian! II 1S

obvious you need a rest.

That

what Uncle Egon wants to talk to you about. II Uncle Egon was his unctuous best. "My dear child.

We'll take good care of you. II

"Imre will take care of me, II said Tonus with increasing agitation. IIDidn't your mother tell you?

But please be seated

She tells me she got a telegram from Imre calling off

"Not calling off ... II his sister corrected him. IICalling off what?" screamed Tonus. IIPlease calm yourself.

I know you are distraught and upset

That afternoon Tonus was bundled off to a castle of a distant cousin in the Tyrol, a ramshackle fortress near the Swiss border. There was no telephone and no post office. was cut off from the world.

-227-

No mail either.

Tonus

A few days later Aunt Julia sat down to compose a letter. She wrote with care.

She took a long time writing it.

[ June 21st, 1951

Dear Imre! The postman has just brought your express special delivery letter of the 18th. far.

I regret more than I can say that it went so

Tonus is terribly unhappy to have caused you so much pain -

but there was no other way. To enter into a marriage ln a country where she could not have been happy would have been madness.

I realized already when

I let her go to the U.S.A. that she might well suffer from terrible homesickness. Believe me, I was on your side despite the difference in your religious faiths. (

didn't wish to stand in the way of Tonus'

happiness and let her do what she wished.

Now again I back her

one hundred percent, and do not wish to force her to do anything against her own will.

It would be quite useless anyway,

as her

mind is made up.

Her decision ripened in America and no one can

change her mind.

She was too concerned to let you know directly,

over there.

She returned to us with a broken heart and fell into

my arms the moment she got here. but it didn't work out.

She tried to find another way,

That was the reason for her silence.

She felt you must have sensed it already. the same person.

You were no longer

I understand well that the long seperation must

-228-

have taken its toll. before.

And you didn't love her the same way as

Perhaps Tonus is not a great beauty, but she had success

with many others - there were many who tried to win her love but she turned a deaf ear to all proposals. Life in America is not easy,

particularly for Tonus.

She

went over there and realized love alone would not sustain her . in that land.

Life can impose harsh demands.

heart to lead you into an unhapy marrlage.

She didn't have the After what you both

went through, you deserve better. Others are entering her life now.

Although she is my daughter,

I must let you know she has more success with men than an average girl of her class.

They are drawn to her although she never goes

too far. Her heart is the deciding, the only factor as far as I am concerned.

When her heart belonged to you, she turned a blind eye

and deaf ear to everybody else.

I have never seen her so unhappy

as during the time you became seperated after the war. you were the only man in her life.

She felt

My brother also developed a

deep regard for you. Unfortunately circumstances have seperated you. can change with time.

Fate decided otherwise.

Please try to come to terms with fate. for you as well.

Circumstances

Perhaps it is better

In the U.S.A., you have the best opportunities

of finding a wealthy woman which, unfortunately, Tonus is no longer. You are young.

Life is open for you with all its opportunities.

-229-

Have fun.

You'll find someone else.

You'll be happy again.

This wish comes from the bottom of my heart.

Let your love for

Tonus remain a happy interlude for both of you, enshrined in your memories. ] Here she stopped for a moment, then decided to continue with I

a sentence which she underlined twice. [ And I beg you, no

do not come over

sense. ]

She stopped

aga~n,

then add1d a further plea, before ending

her letter.

[ Tonus' mind cannot be chan4ed.

vocable one.

it would make absolutely

This 1S her will.

An 1rre-

Anyway she is not aV1ilable.

Please be reasonable and held my advice. reproach us about anything.

And please do not

Give our greetings to your father. Affectionately, Julia Dadian ]

180.

Imre read and reread Aunt Julia's letter.

He was thunderstruck.

That mixture of truths and untruths was a masterpiece of deception. His gloom deepened as he read the letter over again.

-230-

To him it

appeared to be completely insane. radically wrong somewhere. received from Shannon. that postcard.

He knew that there was something

He kept looking at the postcard he had

Aunt Julia's letter just didn't jive with

[Why?]

That question kept nagging at him.

found no answers at all. Disbelief turned into outrage. century.

Is abduction possible?

Aunt Julia's illness anywhere! brother by the Communists.

[We live ln the twentieth

And deception?

Not a word about

I was kidnapped by the Nazis, my

Can it be in the realm of possibility

that my own betrothed's family would engage in the favorite sport of tyrants and dictators? ] His disbelief was not unlike the disbelief of Hitler's victims who couldn't visualize anything so horrible as genocide emanating from a civilized people.

[Could Tonus' mother stoop to the level

of people she so often professed to despise? touch with Tonus?

Why can't I get in

Why is there no sign of life from her?

Aunt Julia answer my letter and not Tonus?

Why did

Why? ]

He re-read Aunt Julia's letter and found a number of disquietlng passages, such as

"others are entering her life now" and "She

is not available." The very fact that Aunt Julia had written such a letter made it painfully clear to him that the telegram sent to Tonus in America was a deception, a ruse, yes - a lie.

Aunt Julia was perfectly

healthy. He found once he looked for them, letter,

which

a number of lies in the

skillfully interwoven with truth,

-231-

was

the

net

which had snared Tonus away and now tried to snare him into delusion. "Believe me I was on your side.

[She never was. ]

I do not wish to force her to do anything.

She returned to us with a broken heart.

[Rubbish]. [Can a broken

heart love forever? ] "You didn't love her the same way as before.

[Of course

not, I loved her more! ] Imre was at a total loss for what to do. pi t

of despair,

Then he fell into a

the depth of which he had not plumbed before.

There was the German invasion of his homeland, the prison tortures of Dachau, the Russian invasion, the Red terror, the West's treachery, the bitter pill of exile in the wilderness.

All seemed almost

insubstantial now compared with the sadness that now darkened his soul.

He felt a shift in the very core of his being. For three days

Imre closeted himself in his apartment and

refused to see and talk to anyone. challenges.

He dwelled upon his previous

There was a natural flow to them.

could see sense in them.

In other words, he

The Germans and Russians were predators,

and it is the nature of the predator to prey.

Churchill perhaps

liked the feeling of power which a chess game - each piece being an independent nation pawn there.

gave him,

sacrificing a bishop here,

Some prison guards had been sadistic.

their nature to be cruel.

But the Dadians?

It was in

It made no sense at

all! On the third day of his seclusion Imre arrived at where he felt the flow of events again.

-232-

He was grateful

the point for the

miracles he had,

for the miracle of Tonus,

for the miracle of

love, for the beauty of the memories he had shared with someone he truly loved.

[That love cannot fade.

my eternal soul. ]

It's part of me, part of

Somewhere in a secret place of his heart, in a

fold of his deepest self, he had enfolded Tonus and enshrined her into his immortality. The fourth day he walked over to Papi's house. to talk again.

He was able

The two didn't need too many words to express

their innermost feelings.

His father offered him a cigar, ("I get

it from the same place as Churchill") and brandy.

He accepted

both. "What should I do?" he asked after outlining the situation as he saw it. Papi touched his forearm and looked him straight in the eye. "In matters of the heart, I really can't give you any advice, dear Imre.

You have to be guided by your inner spirit.

Pray.

Meditate." "I have been doing that for these last few days." "Were you praying or were you feeling sorry for yourself?" "I

was ... " replied Imre slowly.

"Yes,

felt sorry for

myself most of the time." "We Chabaffys don't pray out of need," said his father, putting his cigar down.

"We pray out of habit."

"Yes, Papi." "The important thing is that you feel

inside yourself,

your conscience, in front of God, that you have done ... right!

-233-

You have had that inner satisfaction -

I know you did - fighting

against the Nazi and the Communist tyranny,

the kind of slavery

against which the Blacks are fighting right here in our new homeland.

I'm talking about the fight for human dignity,

vidual liberty." son:

for indi-

He paused for a moment and turned closer to his

"Do you feel the same rightness about Tonus?" "I do

I did ... Yes,

I do,

Imre said.

"What I do not

understand is the senselessness of it!" "Don't you see, my son? Let it flow." "I see, Papi." "There is no point of breaking your heart about this," he continued earnestly,

relighting his cigar.

only two possibilities. love you.

"You see, there are

The first is that she really does not

She might be fickle, weak ...

Q donna mobile ... unsure

about her feelings for you ... not strong enough ... a weak blood strain in the family somewhere ... who knows what?

Perhaps some

popist hangup?" and he thumped on the coffee table as he proceeded. "In that case she is not worthy to be your princess!" "And the other?" "She truly loves you. this

In that case your love will survive

this crisis." "My initial impulse was to catch the first flight and rescue

her. " "Don't." "You think I should just let it go?"

-234-

"I do.

I know it's painful now.

But it never pays in the

long run to run after a woman ... not worth of a Chabaffy." Imre was relieved by this conversation, at least in part.

was not happy about the prospect of waiting, but he was glad to have been able to talk. his own feelings.

His father had confirmed, more or less,

While in his presence Imre had managed, quite

successfully, to conceal his sorrow. wanted to put a good face on things.

And he was glad he had.

But the moment he got back

horne a fresh melancholy seized him.

He returned to the surround-

ings which witnessed his happiness.

There was a closet which he

had built for her things, her photograph on his desk, the rug on which they had gambolled ...

only how many weeks ago? ...

the

stack of letters he had received from her. The next day he went downtown to his office.

His partners,

his secretary, his aides were shocked by his appearance: the sadness in his eyes, the knit eyebrows, and the wandering attention. Uncle Ede' s

sensitive antennae picked up all of this.

buzzed him on the intercom.

"Son, I need to see you."

When Imre appeared in his office, Uncle Ede didn't waste any time.

He asked Imre to sit down.

Uncle Ede remained standing.

"You need a change, son," he announced briskly.

"The part-

ners want to send you to the orient ... which brings me to the subject of oriental women

"But, Uncle ... " "Hear me out.

Do hear me out ... " he continued,

slowly up and down in front of Imre.

-235-

walking

"The oriental woman has one

inestimable advantage over the Occidental woman, and this is what it is. 1I

He ceased walking and stopped in front of Imre.

IIShe has

an almost limitless desire to please one. II Bending very close to Imre for a moment, Uncle Ede kept talking more rapidly, uSlng his fingers to count the desirable attributes as if he were explaining the advantages of a business deal to a skeptical client. IINumber two,

He began to pace the floor again.

she has the splendid habit of convincing you

that you are a much greater person than you think you are.

Number

three, not only does she appear to be, but she actually is, thankful ... I repeat, thankful ... for even a token favor.

Ergo, when-

ever you see her you get a nice warm feeling inside you and feel in a good mood in her company. II The phone rang, and he picked up the receiver.

III don't want

to be disturbed, II he barked, his ferocity flaring for a moment. Then he continued briskly with Imre.

IINow compare,

son, these

three advantages with the things we have to contend with here. Don't you get that feeling that Occidental women actually enjoy cutting men down to size? to them!

You even have a hard time explaining it

'All you men want is a glorified domestic slave,' they

all complain.

They've got it all wrong!

Don't we all want

consideration ... tenderness ... a feeling of being wanted?1I l:

Uncle Ede stopped again.

II I want you to go to Macao, the

Portuguese colony, you know, near Hong-Kong an associate ...

friend

there.

His

name

Don't worry about the spelling of his name.

-236-

We have ... er is

c. Y.

Leung

. .

I'll have my secre-

tary prepare a memo.

He is a silent partner of the ... er ...

three men ... the only ones who count in Macao

My secretary

also has a copy of the Life magazine article about the place, which appeared a year or two ago J.n one of the issues. He walked towards the door.

Imre followed him.

Uncle Ede

took hold of the back of his neck and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "Have a pleasant trip ... have a good time. I do

He added with a grin:

II • • •

I love you, son,

and think of your father.

He had the good taste and common sense to pick Ann. that too ...

Yes,

think about it.

As Imre passed through his

door Uncle Ede patted him on the back.

"Mr.

agent will be flying to Hong-Kong next week. tell you!

Think about

Leung's American I almost forgot to

He'll take you to Macao ... You'll have interesting

company on that very long flight over there.

"What's his name?" asked Imre. "Margi t,

Uncle Ede turned to his secretary.

"What is the

name of the man you booked a flight to Hong-Kong next week with Prince Chabaffy? II "pogo Rhyth, "pogO!

she said after consulting her calendar.

exclaimed Imre.

parrot Pogo -- if I had one!

"What a

funny name!

I'd call my

All three Magyars started to chuckle at the same time.

-237-