I used to know some of the phrases by heart.
But I have forgotten them now, it is so many years ago. Since then I
have seen no more Americans. I think my daughter-in-law has; she is a
great gad-about, she sees every one."
At this the younger lady came rustling forward, pinching in a very
slender waist, and casting idly preoccupied glances over the front
of her dress, which was apparently designed for a ball. She was, in a
singular way, at once ugly and pretty; she had protuberant eyes, and
lips strangely red. She reminded Newman of his friend, Mademoiselle
Nioche; this was what that much-obstructed young lady would have liked
to be. Valentin de Bellegarde walked behind her at a distance, hopping
about to keep off the far-spreading train of her dress.
"You ought to show more of your shoulders behind," he said very gravely.
"You might as well wear a standing ruff as such a dress as that."
The young woman turned her back to the mirror over the chimney-piece,
and glanced behind her, to verify Valentin's assertion. The mirror
descended low, and yet it reflected nothing but a large unclad flesh
surface. The young marquise put her hands behind her and gave a downward
pull to the waist of her dress. "Like that, you mean?" she asked.
"That is a little better," said Bellegarde in the same tone, "but it
leaves a good deal to be desired.
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