Page:Georges Eekhoud - Escal Vigor, a novel.djvu/39

Rh women displayed head-dresses of lace topped by conical hats with broad strings; their bodices being more variegated, and ornamented with interlacings even more capricious than the men's waistcoats; they wore bulging petticoats of the same velvet and the same reddish-brown shade as the vests and the breeches; thin gold chains were three times wound around their throats and in their ears were ear-drops of an ancient, quasi-byzantine pattern, whilst on their fingers they sported rings with bezels as thick as those of a bishop.

These folk were, for the most part, robust specimens of the dark-complexioned type of that ardent and full-blooded race of swarthy, sinewy Celts, with rebellious, woolly locks. Bronzed peasants and sailors, a little embarrassed at the beginning of the repast, they had soon recovered their assurance. With clumsy gestures, but by no means artificial, and often even, after a manner newly discovered by themselves, deftly they plied knife and fork. As the meal progressed, tongues loosened, and bursts of laughter sometimes interspersed with an oath, seasoned their guttural speech, which, although highly coloured revealed smooth