General Henrik lives in a remote castle in distant Hungary. He's a misanthropic war veteran who stays isolated because he refuses to participate in the progress of modernism in his country, preferring to dwell on nostalgia for simpler times. One day a stranger visits the village and Henrik hears about him. Immediately he invites the man for dinner.
When the stranger arrives, he clearly knows Henrik. In fact they were childhood friends from military school. Apparently some incident occurred on July 2, 1899 which has kept them estranged for 41 years and 43 days as Konrad so aptly recalls. The major plot line of this book follows Henrik's bitter line of questioning to his friend, drawing him along in a reminiscence on the past. Clearly he blames Konrad for something from that day they split, the cause for their long estrangement.
In Vienna as children they had met at boarding school. Although Konrad participated, he was never the star that Henrik became, being general and all. In fact, after school Konrad never did join the military. Their relationship survived school until the day of an important hunt with friends. Henrik continues to tease at demanding an apology from Konrad for some unnamed offense. In his old age, he says, he wants to know the truth finally. He wants to hear from Konrad exactly what happened and why.
Finally, readers are permitted to understand the conflict. After Henrik sets him up for a confession, Konrad recalls the events of July 2, 1899. They had gone hunting with a group of friends. Henrik had brought his wife. Apparently the group caught on to Konrad's distraction. He was too busy trying to woo Henrik's wife, Krisztina. In the end, Henrik disowned his wife for infidelity and always blamed Konrad for driving her away from him, even though his friend never did end up with her.
