MANY THOUGHTS CAME TO THE GIRLS’ MINDS, AND THEY became very curious after their conversation with the Baron. The next day they visited the group of vagrants, who had pitched their tents outside of town.
Wilma suspected that the Tatars had expected them, as they were welcomed with much hospitality.298 But Lucia was treated with the most distinction—the leader of the group even kissed the hem of her dress.299 He then instructed his interpreter to ask her whether she would like her humble servant to do anything for her.300 She answered, saying, “I’ve been told that your people are more knowledgeable in certain fields than people of other nations; it would be my pleasure to learn more about this.” The chief went into his tent and returned with a young girl. She was wrapped in a gold-seamed, yellow silk shawl. She handed Lucia a crystal ball and asked her to look into it. Lucia did so, and she saw her fiancé, Arthur, kissing a young woman sitting beside him. The next day Lucia received a letter from Arthur, in which he told her that his sister, Mary, had come to visit him the night before. Mary had just been married to a Romanian man, an assistant to Prince Koromezzo, the Austrian ambassador to London. Mary’s relatives had done everything in their power to prevent this marriage from happening, as the Prince had a ruinous reputation.
Mary and her husband had left for Constantinople immediately after their wedding.301