The ban which had been laid upon
her daughter she felt applied equally to herself; that is for the
present. Later, there must be a change. So particular a man as the
judge would soon find himself too uncomfortable to endure the lack
of those attentions which he had been used to in Bela's day. He
had not even asked for clean sheets, and sometimes she had found
herself wondering, with a strange shrinking of her heart, if his
bed was ever made, or whether he had not been driven at times to
lie down in his clothes.
She had some reason for these doubtful conclusions. In her
ramblings through the house she had come upon Bela's room. It was
in a loft over the kitchen and she had been much amazed at its
condition. In some respects it looked as decent as she could
expect, but in the matter of bed and bedclothes it presented an
aspect somewhat startling. The clothes were there, tossed in a
heap on the floor, but there was no bed in sight nor anything
which could have served as such.
IT HAD BEEN DRAGGED OUT. Evidences of this were everywhere;
dragged out, and down the narrow, twisted staircase which was the
only medium of communication between the lower floor and this
loft. As she noted the marks made by its passage down the steps,
the unhappy vision rose before her of the judge, immaculate in
attire and unaccustomed of hand, tugging at this bed and
alternately pushing and pulling it by main strength down this
contracted, many-cornered staircase.
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