“You are not in a funk too, are you, Erkel? I rely on you more than on any of them. I’ve seen now what each of them is worth. Tell them today all I’ve told you. I leave them in your charge. Go round to each of them this morning. Read them my written instructions tomorrow, or the day after, when you are all together and they are capable of listening again⁠ ⁠… and believe me, they will be by tomorrow, for they’ll be in an awful funk, and that will make them as soft as wax.⁠ ⁠… The great thing is that you shouldn’t be downhearted.”

“Ach, Pyotr Stepanovitch, it would be better if you weren’t going away.”

“But I am only going for a few days; I shall be back in no time.”

“Pyotr Stepanovitch,” Erkel brought out warily but resolutely, “what if you were going to Petersburg? Of course, I understand that you are only doing what’s necessary for the cause.”