I was making my way home to the actors' residence in Magyar Street when, as I crossed the intersection at the Astoria Hotel, I noticed a patch of colour that almost glowed in the autumn grey, a young woman wearing a deep violet skirt. I felt a wave of nostalgia as I recalled my own violet dress, the one I had modelled for months for my husband, Pál Szinyei Merse. Heaven only knows how many times I had to adjust the dress before he finished the picture. I was pregnant with our first son, and it was a bit of luck that I could sew – I had sewn the dress myself originally – because our son was growing faster than my husband could paint the picture. Finally, the Lady in Violet (Lilaruhás nő) was completed, and it became one of his most successful paintings. It was 1874, the year our son Félix was born. Although we divorced in 1887, I must admit that while he may not have been the best husband, there is no doubt that he was an excellent painter. The Picnic in May (Majális), the Poppies in the Field (Pipacsos mező) or the Airship... All of them are masterpiece paintings. The Lady in Violet is currently on display in the Hungarian National Gallery, and in postcard shops, where you can always find reproductions of Szinyei's pictures. And how many people do you think know that the delicate, young woman sitting in the taffeta dress is me, Zsófia Probster?