To those with whom we are on terms of
intimacy we say 'he' or 'she,' to which we add, if we wish, the words
_bacsi_, or _hugom_, which are equivalent to 'cousin.'"
"And do you never say 'thou' to your wife?"
"To her also I say 'she' or 'you.'"
"What a singular country! Well, then, Bernat bacsi, if it pleases 'him,'
will 'he' sit here by me?"
Baroness Katinka understood perfectly how to conduct the conversation
during the repast--an art which was not appreciated by her right-hand
neighbor, Herr Mercatoris. The learned gentleman had bad teeth, in
consequence of which eating was a sort of penitential performance that
left him no time for discourse.
But the doctor and the vice-palatine showed themselves all the more
willing to share the conversation with their hostess.
"The official business was satisfactorily arranged without me, was it
not, Bernat bacsi?" after a brief pause, inquired the baroness.
"Not altogether. We are like the gypsy who said that he was going to
marry a countess. He was willing, and all that was yet necessary was the
consent of a countess. Our business requires the consent of a
baroness--that is, of Katinka hugom.
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