Die Glut Christina Viragh

Reprint. Originally published: 1942. Original title: »A gyertyák csonkig égnek«

From book cover:
Darauf hat Henrik über vierzig Jahre gewartet: Sein Jugendfreund Konrád kündigt sich an. Nun kann die Frage beantwortet werden, die Henrik seit Jahrzehnten auf dem Herzen brennt: Welche Rolle spielte damals Krisztina, Henriks junge und schöne Frau? Warum verschwand Konrád nach jenem denkwürdigen Jagdausflug Hals über Kopf? Eine einzige Nacht haben die beiden Männer, um den Fragen nach Leidenschaft und Treue, Wahrheit und Lüge auf den Grund zu gehen.

»Sándor Márai hat einen grandiosen, einen quälenden Gespensterroman geschrieben, einen Totengesang der Überlebenden, denen die Wahrheit zum Fegefeuer geworden ist. Die Glut hat ihnen sad Leben zur Asche ausgebrannt.«
Thomas Wirtz in de Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung From wikipedia.org:
The novel takes place in 1941 on a hunting lodge on the edge of the Carpathians, While awaiting the visit of his childhood friend Konrád, the old Hungarian General Henrik looks back on his life. Henrik and Konrád were good friends in their youth, although Henrik comes from a rich family of the high nobility, while Konrád is the son of an impoverished baron. On a hunt Konrád put the rifle on Henrik. He hesitated, however, to shoot, missed the moment and then disappeared "into the tropics". The next day, after Konrád's departure, Henrik visited his room, where Konrád had never let him in, and was surprised by the tasteful decor. Henrik's wife Krisztina also looked around the room; From her behavior Henrik concluded that she was familiar with the room and that she had a love affair with Konrád.

After this incident, Henrik and Krisztina no longer talk to each other. They occupy widely spaced buildings on Henrik's extensive estate. She dies eight years later.

For years, Henrik tries to explain this incident, to fathom the nature of his relationship with Krisztina and his friendship with Konrád, and to find out the motives for his suspected double betrayal.

Konrád's return seems to give the general the opportunity to clarify these questions. The very one-sided conversation lasts all night. In a long monologueHenrik rolls out the events and its implications. With his short answers and objections, Konrád expresses his interest and encourages Henrik to continue. He does not contradict Henrik's interpretation of events anywhere. An answer to one of the two questions that Henrik is working on all night long is missing. Shortly before the dissolution Henrik himself burns the decisive evidence, a diary of his wife. Konrád then refuses the answer he is the only one to know. At first, Henrik does not want to ask the second question because he has already been refused the answer to the first question, but decides to do so. He asks, "whether the true content of their lives" was not just that painful yearning for a dead woman, "Konrád said in the affirmative. [1]

At dawn, Konrád, whom Henrik has described as his friend in the course of the conversation despite past events, says goodbye to Henrik. The two men part with all the signs of friendly respect.