essary documents
neatly tied up with tape, under his arm as usual; he was not like our
modern lawyers who carry their masterpieces in portfolios as if they are
ashamed of them. The only persons in the reception room besides the old
man, were Madame Langai and Mr. John. Henrietta, still an invalid, had
been allowed to take a stroll to the woods near the town in order to
visit her favourite flowers once more and possibly take leave of them
for ever. She had received no invitation-card for this lecture. Why,
indeed, should a bride know anything of her bridegroom's biography
before marriage! The lawyer took his place at the table, untied his pile
of documents and began to read.

It appeared from these documents that the founder of the Hatszegi
family, the great grandfather of the present baron, was one Mustafa, who
had been a Defterdar[2] at Stamboul, and had used his unrivalled
opportunities for making money so well that he found it expedient to fly
from Jassy to Transylvania, where he made haste to get baptized and
naturalized. His son, now an Hungarian nobleman, cut a fine figure at
court and gallantly distinguished himself in the Turkish wars against
his former compatriots, his exploits winning for him the estate of
Hidvar and the title of baron. His son again was a miser of the first
water who could be enticed neither to court nor into the houses of his
neighbours. He was continually scraping money together and was not over
particular in the choice of his scraper. By adroit chicanery he acquired
possession of the gold mines of Verespatak, which he exploited with
immense advantage, and by means of money lending and mortgages got into
his hands the vast estate of Hatszegi in the counties of Hunyad and
Feher, so that when he died it took thirty heavy wagons to convey his
ready money in gold and silver alone from the Vadormi caverns, where he
had concealed it to the castle of Hidvar, which his only son, Leonard,
chose as his residence after his father's death. All these details were
certified by unimpeachable documents in schedules B. C. and D.

[Footnote 2: The chief of the financial department in the Turkish
vilagets.]

Moreover, the blood of many nationalities circulated in the veins of
Baron Leonard. The Defterdar himself was a Turk of Roumelian origin,
whose only son was the child of his Hindu concubine. He again married
the daughter of a Polish countess at the court of Vienna. The wife of
Baron Leonard's father wa