Page:Selected Czech tales - 1925.djvu/163

 ‘Excellent, Ivan, everything went right,’ answered his wife.

‘You found them all well?’

‘Yes, quite. Father had not been well about a month ago. They did not tell me, because they did not want me to be anxious. But he is better, he is really quite well again.’

‘You found it hard to part with them, didn’t you, Magda?’ said Hron.

The blood again mounted to Magda’s cheek. Her eyes became fixed, and did not meet his. Oh, how hard it had been to part with that little creature! But she was obliged to give an answer.

‘You know I am fond of my parents, and they are getting old; every year is like a gift. And yet every year I leave them with the hope of seeing them the next.’

‘And they have not yet made up their minds to come and live in Prague?’ he asked. ‘We would find a charming, cosy little nest for them and make them very comfortable. Haven’t you tried to persuade them?’

Hron made this proposal every year on Magda’s return from her old home, but she shrank from it. She would indeed have liked to have her parents near her, but if they came to Prague, how could she see