Page:Sixteen years of an artist's life in Morocco, Spain and the Canary Islands.djvu/55

44 when I acknowledge to him that I did not tell the lady herself so.

To continue my description of her toilet, her head-dress was costly and magnificent beyond all description. It consisted, in the first place, of the richest jewels, the favourite emeralds and pearls predominating among them. They arose in glittering succession, one above another, until, in consequence of the manner in which they were arranged, they assumed the appearance of a magnificent bishop's mitre. The adornment of the head was completed by a knotted silk handkerchief, with which it was surmounted. But with all the richness and splendour of the ornaments, there was such an utter absence of taste in the manner in which they were disposed, that the head and face formed altogether a most grotesque and barbarous spectacle. The remainder of her person was no less profusely covered with sparkling gems. Strings of gorgeous pearls, and antique chains of massive gold, were suspended from her neck. A crimson caftan, or dress, much of the shape of an English gentleman's dressing-gown, was taken from the chest of drawers, and tried on. But its colour suggested a serious objection to it. The unavoidable consideration that it would emulate the rich and glowing scarlet of the cheeks induced the lady to discard it without