"Oh, your Gracious High-Bornness! Isn't it splendid! How glad I am that St. Stephen is the Magyar saint and that I am a Magyar!" The child's eyes were shining, her cheeks flushed, her hair a golden coronet in the sunshine, and she looked like a beautiful little princess. At the sound of her voice an officer in uniform, who was passing, turned and looked into the child's face, then glanced from her to the Baroness, who waved her hand in greeting. He doffed his cap and then came to the carriage. "Good morning, Count. It is long since I have seen you in Buda-Pest. Are you not marching to-day?" the Baroness said. "No, Madame." The officer had a kind face, but it seemed very sad to Marushka. She thought she had seen him before, but did not remember where until Banda Bela whispered that it was the officer who had given them money for Marushka's top boots at the fair. "I was on duty at the palace this morning, but am returning home at once. My wife is not very well," he said. "It is long since I have seen her. Will she receive me if I drive out to your home?" the Baroness asked. "She will be glad to see you," he said, "though she sees but few since her ill health." "I shall drive out to-day with these little folk, to whom I am showing the sights," said the Baroness. The count's eyes fell upon Banda Bela, and he gave a quick smile. "Why, this is the little genius who played the violin so wonderfully well down at the village fair," he said; and Banda Bela smiled, well pleased at being remembered. "The little girl is yours?" he asked. The Baroness hesitated. "No," she said. "She is not mine. She is the child of a friend of mine." Marushka wondered what good Aszszony Semeyer would say to hear herself spoken of as a friend of the Baroness, and, amused, she looked up at the Count with a beaming smile. He started a little and then stared at her fixedly, just as the Baroness with a hasty adieu bade the coachman drive on. "Madame," he asked quickly, as the horses started. "Who is the friend whose child this is?" The Baroness looked back at him over her shoulder. "That I cannot tell you now," she said. "This afternoon at your castle I will ask _you_ to tell _me_!" FOOTNOTE: [13] Hungarian Magna Charta. CHAPTER IX "OH, THE EYES OF MY MOTHER!" "OH, High-Born Graciousness, what is that beautiful street we are driving into?" asked Marushka, as they drove out in the afternoon, and the coachman turned the horses into a magnificent avenue. "This is Andrássy-ut, the famous boulevard, which leads to the park," replied the Baroness. "We are driving toward Os Budavará, the Park of Buda-Pest, and it is one of the most beautiful sights in the world."