Page:Francesca Carrara 2.pdf/42

Rh Mademoiselle was but just returned to court, and enjoying all the gaieties of its brilliant scenes with the double relish of long seclusion; and that evening, as she walked up and down the terrace of the Luxembourg, waiting the arrival of her guests, she looked indeed native to the atmosphere. The lightly powdered hair sparkled with diamonds; and her fair pure skin needed no contrast to set off its transparent whiteness. The plumes which she wore suited well with the stately turn of her head; and if there he one thing more than another which marks the inherent aristocracy of gentle birth and breeding, it is the grace with which feathers may be worn—but a grace to be found, like truth, in "ah, how few!" Her scarlet satin robe swept the ground, trimmed with pearls and black ribands. A gold chain descended from her waist, and from it was suspended a curiously chased smelling-bottle; while the stomacher, arms, and throat, glittered with gems. There was a consciousness, too, about her, which is infinitely becoming—she felt that the Mademoiselle of to-night sustained her reputation. Hers was not the only brow brilliant with its own belief of beauty, nor the only toilette destined to be too charming!

It is curious, in any great festival, to note the various motives that animate its crowd. Some—