Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/128

122 peared. The Princess then took a silver bell and rang it; in an instant the chamberlain appeared at the door. The Princess ordered him to see that breakfast was served in the small dining room, and gave him a package of papers to care for. He bowed and left the room.

While the Princess was speaking with the chamberlain, Grandmother was looking at the portraits upon the walls of the cabinet.

"O dear Lord!" she exclaimed when Leopold was gone, "what strange costumes and faces! This lady is dressed just as the late Mrs. Halashkov used to be dressed,—may her soul rest in peace! She used to wear high heeled shoes, a high bonnet, her petticoats puffed out, and her waist laced so tight that she looked as if she had been cut in two by a whip lash. Her husband was a city alderman in Dobruska, and when we went there on a pilgrimage, we saw her at church. Our boys called her a poppy doll, because in those petticoats and that powdered head she looked like a poppy blossom with the petals turned backwards. They said it was a French style of dress."

"That lady is my grandmother," said the Princess.

"Indeed? She is a fine lady," replied Grandmother.

"The picture to the right is my grandfather, and the left one is my father," continued the Princess.

"Very nice people! Your Grace does not deny her father; and may I ask, where is your mother?"

"There is my mother and sister," said the Princess pointing to two portraits above her writing desk.