‘Bound by a very close friendship, additionally cemented by long and important services to each other, the Comtes Hadick and Amady made up their minds to tighten these bonds still further by uniting in marriage their children, who were about the same age. Théodore Hadick, the only offspring of the illustrious family, was in consequence brought up with young Constance, who from her infancy bade fair to be as kind in disposition as she was beautiful in face and figure. At fifteen the feelings of these two young people were already what they would continue to be all their lives. The castles of the two magnates were practically adjacent to each other. Constance, by being present at the lessons of her young friend, easily learned all those exercises calculated to impart both bodily and mental gracefulness without being hurtful to beauty. What united them still more was their passionate fondness for music, which passion appears innate with the Hungarians. They were held up everywhere as models of perfection and virtue, and their fathers were already discussing the time of their wedding, when the war broke out. ‘As you are aware, the laws of Hungary compel every noble personally to fight for his country; and in the periods of great danger, when the whole of the nation rushes to arms, the magnates march with their banners at the head of their vassals. The Comte Hadick, jealous for the honour of his house, was very anxious for his son to share the forthcoming campaign. Constance, hiding her grief, and solely occupied with the future and the glory of her betrothed, watched with great courage the preparations for a parting which the chances of war might prolong and render eternal. ‘Theodore, impatient to devote himself to his country, hurried the moment that was to afford him the chance of showing himself still more worthy of the girl whom he loved, and the day of his departure was finally fixed upon. The previous evening, though, the betrothal took place at the castle, and it was with the certainty of Constance’s hand that the young count at the head of his vassals went to join the Hungarian army at Pesth. You know the result of the campaign. The Hungarians kept up their reputation for brilliant valour. Théodore, in virtue of several signal actions, deserved the cross conferred upon him by the chapter of the Order of Maria-Theresa, a distinction considered one of the foremost in the annals of chivalry. ‘But while the young man supped full with glory, Constance had been carried to the brink of the grave by a cruel illness. Stricken down by an attack of most virulent smallpox, she hovered for a long time between life and death. The doctors, while saving her, could not prevent the face which had been one of the most beautiful from becoming almost hideous. She was only allowed to look at herself when she was on the high road to recovery.