Baroness Orczy

“ Bideskúty knew nothing of human nature; his careless disposition, his very arrogance and pride of caste, prevented him from reading the open book of his neighbours’ characters and feelings, which lies before all who are willing to read. To him, Kemény András, rich or poor, educated or ignorant, would always remain the low-born peasant, descendant of a race of serfs, once the very property of his own ancestors. To him low deeds, such as he now attributed to András, were the necessary outcome of low birth. ”

“ Hardly had the crowd of aristocratic merry-makers realised the terrible catastrophe which had occurred, than a huge column of flames, not half a league away to the right, rose with a distant hissing sound into the air, while to the left and straight ahead, a burning glow seemed to turn the entire landscape into one gigantic furnace. ”

“ Some of the men had hastily wrenched off the cumbersome skirts, which impeded their movements, but others, in too great a haste to try and undo the many unaccustomed fastenings, had gathered up their petticoats, and in their wild ride, the white satin and brocade skirts, fluttering in the wind looked like witches’ wings, which caught sharp lurid lights as they fluttered in the wind. ”

“ Countess Irma and Ilonka, clinging to one another, in a mutual desire for comfort, led the way; the pretty young girl, forgetting her male attire, her thoughts paralysed by the disaster, of which, child as she was, she could not but foresee the consequences, her mother, mutely upbraiding destiny, for having ventured to fall with a heavy hand, upon her aristocratic head. ”

“ Pretty laughing faces peeped above male attire, while bearded faces looked irresistibly comic, from beneath feminine head-gear. The order was that all the girls should appear in men’s clothes, and all the men in what articles of feminine attire, they could manage to borrow.
The lumber room had been ransacked, where generations of Bideskútys had stored away apparel, which had become too antiquated to wear, and in great oak chests, dainty, high-waisted dresses of the beginning of this century, and rich brocades, and hooped skirts of grandmother’s days, were found in gorgeous plenty. ”

“ The latter formed a charming bevy of valets, with “attilas” (a military frock-coat) decidedly too large for their slim waists, and very shapely-looking legs, encased in the tight-fitting characteristic Hungarian breeches. ”