a volley of muttered curses to Leopold Hirsch's lips.

While he held her one hand rather longer than was necessary she, with
the other, took his hat from him, and then, laughing coquettishly, she
pointed to a parcel which was causing the pocket of his well-cut Norfolk
jacket to bulge immoderately.

"Is that something for me?" she asked.

"Of course it is," he replied lightly; "I bought it at the fair in Arad
for you to-day."

"How thoughtful of you!" she said, with a little sigh of pleasure.

"Thoughtful?" he retorted, laughing pleasantly. "My good Klara, if I
hadn't thought of you I would have died of boredom this afternoon. Here,
give me a glass of your father's best wine and I'll tell you."

He sat down with easy familiarity on the corner of the table which
served as a counter. Klara, after this, had eyes and ears only for him.
How could it be otherwise, seeing that it was not often a noble lord
graced a village tap-room with his presence. Conversations round the
room were now carried on in whispers; tarok cards were produced and here
and there a game was in progress. Those who had drunk overmuch made
themselves as inconspicuous as they could, drawing themselves closely
against the wall, or frankly reclining across the table with arms
outstretched and heads buried between them out of sight.

An atmosphere of subdued animation and decorum reigned in the place; not
a few men, oppressed by their sense of respect for my lord, had effected
a quiet exit through the door, preferring the jovial atmosphere of the
barn, from whence came, during certain hushed moments, the sounds of
music and of laughter.

The young man--whose presence caused all this revulsion in the usually
noisy atmosphere of the tap-room--took no heed whatever of anything that
went on around him: he seemed unconscious alike of the deference of the
peasants as of the dark, menacing scowl with which Leopold Hirsch
regarded him. He certainly did not bestow a single glance on Eros Bela
who, at my lord's appearance, had retreated into the very darkest
corner of the room. Bela did not care to encounter the young Count's
sneering remarks just now--and these would of a certainty have been
levelled against the bridegroom who was sitting in a tap-room when he
should have been in attendance on his bride. But indeed my lord never
saw him.

To this young scion of a noble race, which had owned land and serfs for
centuries past, these peasants here were of no