CHAPTER XVII 214
" What is it , Adele ?"
" Est-ce que je ne puis pas prendrie une seule de ces fleurs magnifiques , mademoiselle ? Seulement pour completer ma toilette ."
" You think too much of your ' toilette ,' Adele : but you may have a flower ." And I took a rose from a vase and fastened it in her sash . She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction , as if her cup of happiness were now full . I turned my face away to conceal a smile I could not suppress : there was something ludicrous as well as painful in the little Parisienne ' s earnest and innate devotion to matters of dress .
A soft sound of rising now became audible ; the curtain was swept back from the arch ; through it appeared the dining-room , with its lit lustre pouring down light on the silver and glass of a magnificent dessert-service covering a long table ; a band of ladies stood in the opening ; they entered , and the curtain fell behind them .
There were but eight ; yet , somehow , as they flocked in , they gave the impression of a much larger number . Some of them were very tall ; many were dressed in white ; and all had a sweeping amplitude of array that seemed to magnify their persons as a mist magnifies the moon . I rose and curtseyed to them : one or two bent their heads in return , the others only stared at me .
They dispersed about the room , reminding me , by the lightness and buoyancy of their movements , of a flock of white plumy birds . Some of them threw themselves in half-reclining positions on the sofas and ottomans : some bent over the tables and examined the flowers and books : the rest gathered in a group round the fire : all talked in a low but clear tone which seemed habitual to them . I knew their names afterwards , and may as well mention them now .
First , there was Mrs . Eshton and two of her daughters . She had evidently been a handsome woman , and was well preserved still . Of her daughters , the eldest , Amy , was rather little : naive , and child-like in face and manner ,