The education she received was similar to that of most noble women in the Hungarian countryside at the time: she learned to read and write and spoke German very well.

Her taste in literature was influenced by writer Ida Miticzky, who moved to Kecskemét in 1862, with whom she also practiced reading out loud in an expressive manner.

The two women immediately developed a liking to each other at their first meeting: the Empress was impressed by the natural, open behavior and sincerity of her new companion and Ferenczy found her employer to be charming, intelligent and beautiful.

After her journey to Hungary in 1866, the Empress started personally corresponding with Hungarian politicians who were, to varying degrees, opposed to the rule or methods of her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph I, using Ferenczy's help and mediation, including Count Gyula Andrássy, who was hanged in effigy for his participation in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and had never petitioned for amnesty and Ferenc Deák, the leader of the Passive Resistance movement following the defeat of the revolution.

After she had proven to be an absolutely loyal and discreet friend, she was given various responsibilities around the Empress and sometimes even rather delicate tasks, such as arranging an anonymous rendezvous between the Empress and Friedrich List Pacher von Theinburg at a masquearade ball,[3] or letting in actress Katharina Schratt, the Emperor's confidante and close friend to the monarch through her own room in the Hofburg.