e highly gratified to hear this, madame. It concerns, us more
nearly than you are aware; the lady is not wholly a stranger to us; in
fact, she--she"--

"Indeed? she was so little known in Paris that you were fortunate in
finding her out. I appreciated her there, but I did not know how much
actual credit was due to her, for she had not then risen to her present
distinction. I confess she is the one person in America without whom I
could not exist."

"Is it possible?" exclaimed the countess.

"And I cannot be grateful enough to her," continued the marchioness,
"for her visit this morning, for she never goes out, or, so seldom, that
I did not dare to expect, to even _hope_ for her presence; yet her
conscientiousness made her come; she suspected that I was in difficulty,
and hastened here."

"It is like her; she was always charming, and so thoughtful for others!"
observed the count, as complacently as though this were an opinion he
had been in the habit of expressing for years.

"You may well say charming," responded Madame de Fleury; "and what
knowledge she possesses of all the requirements, the most subtle
refinements of good society! What polished manners she has! What choice
language she uses! What poetical expression she gives to her sentiments!
I often forget myself when I am talking to her, and fancy that I am
communicating with a person of the same standing as myself; and, without
knowing what I am doing, I involuntarily treat her as an equal!"

"_An equal?_ Of course, most certainly!" answered the countess, aghast.

The amazement of the count, Maurice, and Bertha, sealed their lips.

"Her taste, her talent, her invention is something almost supernatural,"
continued the marchioness, enthusiastically; for, now that she was
launched upon her favorite theme, she had forgotten her haste. "She sees
at a glance all the good points of a figure; she knows how to bring them
out strongly; she discovers by intuition what is lacking, and
dexterously hides the defects. I have seen her convert the veriest dowdy
into an elegant woman. And, when she gets a subject that pleases her,
she perfectly revels in her art. Look at this dress for instance,--see
by what delicate combinations it announces the spring."

The marchioness was struck with the consternation depicted in the
countenances of her visitors.

Bertha was the only one who could command sufficient voice to falter
out, "That dress, then"--

"It is her invention,"