She bridled. "Why not, I should like to know? Do you consider yourself
above it?"
"It isn't that," I faltered. (And it wasn't; it was that duchess!)
"But--but--" I searched for an excuse. "I haven't anything to wear."
"I will see to that," said my mistress, with relentless generosity. "I
intend to give you a dress, and as you have next to nothing to do
to-morrow, you can alter it in time. If you had any gratitude in you,
Elise, you'd be out of yourself with joy at the idea."
"Oh, I am out of myself, miladi," I moaned.
"Well, you might say 'Thank your ladyship,' then."
I said it.
"When you have unpacked the big luggage in the morning, I will give you
the dress. I have decided on it already. Sir Samuel doesn't like it on
me, so I don't mind parting with it; but it's very handsome, and cost me
a great deal of money when I was getting my trousseau. It is scarlet
satin trimmed with green beetle-wing passementerie, and gold fringe."
My one comfort, as I gasped out spasmodic thanks, was this: I would look
such a vulgar horror in the scarlet satin trimmed with green
beetle-wings and gold fringe, that the Duchesse de Melun might fail to
recognize Lys d'Angely.
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