Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/125

Rh conservatory. On the opposite side of the hall was a music-room; then an eating-room, with a table set out I believe no one ever saw surpassed in a private family. There were three pyramids; one, many feet in hight, had on the top a beautiful burner of incense, which sent forth a fragrance that could not be surpassed. They were all covered with different colored lights, and certainly had a grand and beautiful effect.

There were eight bridemaids, dressed in pure white, with pink wreathes on their heads. The bride's dress was a double skirt of Brussels lace over white silk; Brussels vail, fastened with diamonds. I don't believe the Empress Eugenia could have looked more elegant than she did. Her bed-room surpassed anything that at that time had ever been seen in this country. Her bed-cover was white figured satin; the pillow covers were embroidered cambric, finer than the pocket handkerchiefs used in these days; the curtains were of lace, fastened to a canopy in the French style, and on the cornice were crushed roses; the couch was figured satin; the window curtains were of lace, lined with pink satin; and a large oval mirror, which stood between the windows, had a wreath of white roses around it.

Was poor Minnie happy in all this elegance? No; her heart was bleeding, and at every tap at the door to bring her presents she would exclaim, in tones of anguish, "O, God!" She would have no one in the room with her but the hair-dresser alone; she dreaded having her bridemaids in the room lest she should faint or have spasms, as she had during the day.

At half-past eight the bridemaids came in and 11