ng whom the count and Brunow were most conspicuous,
moved to welcome them. After a little bustle of compliments and
arrangement, chairs were found for the visitors at the far end of the
room, and the meeting fell back into its former aspect. One of our
unlooked-for visitors sat on the chair near the old grand piano, and
I could see her white hand, ungloved and with a jewelled bracelet
sparkling at the wrist, resting on the key-board. That corner of the
long and narrow chamber was so dim, and the intervening lamps and
candles sent up such a glare between, that I was not quite certain of
her identity; but I felt a shock of surprise in the mere fancy that this
was the Baroness Bonnar. I made a movement to one side, and, shading my
eyes from the light, made her out with certainty. It was the Baroness
Bonnar, and no other. She had often spoken in my hearing of her
Hungarian birth, and of her hatred of the Austrians; but I had never
been inclined to regard this as being more than a bit of private
theatricals, and I was astonished to find her withdrawing herself from
the butterfly, fashionable career she seemed to follow, and taking
so much interest in sterner matters as her presence there seemed to
indicate.

There was a little ceremonial, in the course of which the count
proffered a formal welcome to the deputation; and one of the ladies, who
was richly attired and wore an air of much distinction, spoke for three
or four minutes in a balanced, musical voice. The count whispered me her
title--I have forgotten it ages ago, though she was a great personage in
her time--and told me that she had lost her husband and her three
sons in the struggle for independence. This made her interesting and
venerable, and I watched her closely as I listened to the balanced
accents of her mournful and musical voice. While this lady spoke her
figure hid that of the baroness, but I could still see the white hand
resting on the key-board, and the jewelled bracelet glittering in some
stray ray of light. By-and-by the hand began to hover over the keys as
if it were playing a phantom air, and a moment later I saw its fellow
hovering in company with it. Just as the speaker sat down I heard the
sound of a chord, but this went unnoticed in the burst of cheering which
arose.

I could see the baroness now. She was sitting with both hands on the
keys, and as the cheering died away they rose and fell again with a loud
and brilliant crash. Everybody turned