Page:Sixteen years of an artist's life in Morocco, Spain and the Canary Islands.djvu/58

Rh that it was in my power to give the whole a more advantageous disposition, by a more careful consideration of the manner in which colours should be matched, and jewels displayed; but, as the lady seemed perfectly satisfied with the effect of her own handiwork, and appeared to think that her charms could not be more effectively exhibited, it was not my province to disturb her equanimity by any ideas of mine, which she would probably have scouted as unreasonable and absurd.

The French mirror in which she surveyed herself no doubt told a flattering tale, and was implicitly believed; for mirrors are defective only when they exaggerate defects, as flatterers are false only when they happen, by misadventure, to speak the truth. A German mirror of peculiar construction hung beside the French one. Being composed of various pieces of glass, so arranged as to reproduce the likeness of the object reflected in it, it multiplied, to her intense gratification, her pleasing image at least fifty-fold. After surveying herself in both for some minutes, she gave vent to an expressive sigh of self-satisfied vanity, and turned to me with the hope, doubtless, of meeting a sympathetic gaze of admiration in my eyes.

One touch of lemon to heighten the crimson bloom on the cheeks, and the most secret lore of