sought in vain; there
was no husband for her.

When the countess had reached thirty there was a halt. The ideal was
as far off as ever. She was anxious to come to terms with the world,
but the world would have none of her. Her day was past; she had no
right to any pretensions. She found herself in the position of having
to choose between utter renunciation or acceptance of the world, with
all its wickedness. At this critical juncture the old prince, her
father, died, leaving the countess the property of Bondavara, together
with the castle. Here Theudelinde retired to nurse her ideal, and
mourn over her shattered idols. Here she was absolute mistress, her
brother, to whom the property reverted, leaving her to her own
devices.

The countess carried out, therefore, her theories unmolested, and her
dislike to beards and mustaches had free play. The growers of these
enormities were banished from her presence, and, as was only a natural
consequence, as time went on her hatred of the male sex increased. No
man was allowed in the neighborhood of the countess. She only suffered
women about her--not alone in the house, but outside. The garden, the
conservatories, were attended to by women--unmarried women, all.
Matrimony was as a red rag to Theudelinde, and no one durst mention
the word in her presence. Any girl who showed any inclination to wear
the "matron's cap" was at once dismissed with contumely. Even the
"coachman" was a woman; and for the reason that it would not have been
fitting to sit upon a coach-box in woman's clothes, this female Jehu
was allowed to wear a long coachman's cloak, a man's coat, as also a
certain garment, at the bare mention of which an Englishwoman calls
out, "Oh, how shocking!" and straightway faints. Truly, at the time
this history was written, in our good land of Hungary, this very
garment played a serious part, since it was the shibboleth and visible
sign of fidelity to the governing powers, and of submission to the
mediators; in truth, ever since those days the "leg of the boot" has
been worn. So it came to pass that Mrs. Liese wore this thing, the
only one of the kind to be seen in the castle. Liese, also, was
allowed to drink wine, and to smoke tobacco, and, needless to say, she
did both.

Fraulein Emerenzia, the countess's companion, was, so to speak, the
exact counterpart of her noble mistress. The countess was tall and
slender; she had a white skin, her features were sharp, her nose
alm