But, what with white antimacassars,
many coloured mats on which reposed pretty ornaments, glasses and vases
of flowers, and other trifles, the room looked well enough for anything.
In like manner, had you, with the same critical eye, scanned the young
lady, you would have found that of real beauty she possessed little. A
small, pretty doll's face with blue eyes and gold-coloured ringlets; a
round face, betraying nothing very great, or good, or intellectual; only
something fascinating and pretty. Her chief beauty lay in her
complexion; by candle-light it was radiantly lovely, a pure red and
white, looking like wax-work. A pretty, graceful girl she looked; and,
what with her fascinations of person, of dress, and of manner, all of
which she perfectly well knew how to display, she had contrived to lead
more than one heart captive, and to hold it in fast chains.
The light of the gas chandelier shone on her now; on her blue gauzy
dress, set off with ribbons, on her sleepy, blue eyes, on her
rose-coloured cheeks. She was figuring off before the glass, I say,
twisting her ringlets round her fingers, and putting them in various
positions to try the effect; her employment, her look, her manner, all
indicating the very essence of vanity.
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