“Here we are at last!” exclaimed Magda, opening her front door; the remark might have been made for either Lisa’s benefit, or Stefan’s.
Lisa, after a short walk up from the wharf, now found herself entering a flat which occupied the upper floor of a sprawling Edwardian villa overlooking Mosman Bay. Light streamed through its great windows filling the large sitting room into which the door immediately opened; to the left could be seen a glimpse of kitchen, to the right a half-open door revealed a small triangle of what might be a bedroom. Near to the kitchen she now saw a large round table covered with food and, standing next to it, a tall man with dark wavy hair and bright hazel eyes. This man was smiling at them broadly, and waved a hand over the table.
“See what I have conjured up for you,” he said, “by the exercise of my great powers!”
“Never mind your great powers,” said Magda, “come here and meet Lisa. Lisa, may I present my husband, Stefan Szombathelyi, who is a Hungarian but not, alas, a count. But you can’t have everything.”
Stefan, smiling at Lisa, drew himself up to his full height, clicked his heels, and bowed, taking Lisa’s hand the while which he then kissed.
“I am enchanted to meet you,” he told her. He released her hand; she was not perhaps blushing, but she seemed rather pink.
“You must not mind, Lisa,” said Magda. “I suppose you have heard that we Europeans are kissing people all the time.”
They all laughed, but Lisa most especially.
“Now I will merely divest myself of this dreadful black,” said Magda, “and we can eat. I am ravenous I must tell you. Excuse me very briefly. Stefan, give Lisa a glass of wine, please.”
Stefan smiled nicely at the girl. She wasn’t too bad: not pretty, but perhaps she had possibilities. She was very thin, but that was certainly better than being very fat.
“Would you like some wine?” he asked, “or would you prefer lemonade? I have bought some, just in case. Such an amusing drink, don’t you agree? But the wine is quite amusing too in its way. Tell me what you would like.”
“I think,” said Lisa, “I’d like some lemonade. I don’t usually drink wine.”
She had not in fact drunk so much as a drop of this liquid ever in her life.
“Excellent,” said Stefan. “I will fetch the lemonade, it is in the fridge. It is not amusing in the least when it is not cold.”
Magda re-entered the room as he departed; she was now clad in a becoming pair of red linen trousers.
“Now for some food,” she cried, rubbing her hands together as she approached the table. “What has he bought for us? Come, Lisa, and sit, and help yourself, please. I will cut some bread. Do you like rye bread? This is very good. Then you have what you like with it, cheese—various kinds all here on this plate, ham, yes, liverwurst, that sausage there is good or try this salami, then I see he has made us a salad as well—you must eat some of that, it is good for you. Stefan, pour me a glass of wine, I beg you.”
Lisa, dazed by the exotic goodies set before her, began to help herself to minute quantities of this and that. No such food had ever before come her way, and she might happily have tasted each thing slowly and in private, but soon she was distracted from any such whole-hearted gluttony by her host.
“Magda tells me you have just left school, Lisa,” said Stefan.
“Yes, I’ve just sat the Leaving Certificate,” said Lisa.
“Ah,” exclaimed Stefan, “the Leaving! So you are clever!”
“I don’t know yet,” said Lisa, “I’m still waiting for the results.”
“That is a clever answer,” said Stefan, “so I think you may wait with some confidence. When will you have them?”
“They come out in about three weeks’ time,” said Lisa.
“And then?” said Stefan. “Will you go to the university?”
“O-o-oh—I really don’t know,” said Lisa, dreading at the contemplation of this question the possibility of not doing so. “I’m trying not to think about it until I know.”
“This is quite correct,” said Magda. “Do not make her think of imponderables, Stefan. She has plenty to think of straightaway. She has her job, she has still Christmas and the abominable sales before her. She lives in the moment.”
“To be sure,” said Stefan. “So tell me, do you like to read novels, Lisa?”
“Oh yes,” said she.
“And what are you reading now?” he asked.
“I’ve just finished Anna Karenina,” said Lisa. “I can’t decide what to read next; there are so many to choose from.”
“How true,” said Stefan, “and the number always grows, I assure you. It is a strange thing. But how did you like Anna?”
“Oh, I loved it. It’s wonderful,” said Lisa.
“I agree that it is hard to think of what should follow it,” said Stefan. “Perhaps it should be something quite different. Read about another woman, perhaps Emma. Have you read that yet?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Oh, well that is settled then,” said Stefan. “Jane Austen, I assure you, is as great a genius as Tolstoy, whatever they say. Let me have your opinion in due course.”
Lisa smiled happily. No one had talked to her in this fashion before.
“Yes, I will,” she replied.
Magda now broke in. “Have we no dessert?” she asked. “Is there no fruit?”
“Yes, I will get it,” said Stefan.
“And put on the coffee,” said Magda.
“That too,” he replied.
He went to the kitchen and returned with a pineapple.
“Ah, but this will be messy,” said Magda. “Do you mind, Lisa? Tuck your serviette under your chin, at any rate; the juice goes everywhere.”
Stefan carved the pineapple, and as they all sat munching and dribbling companionably, the doorbell rang. Magda looked up, her great eyes wide.
“That will be Rudi,” she exclaimed. “He has such a sense of timing, like no one.”