church of the Carmelites on Advent Sunday? Oh, there was a good
father there who preached: it was indescribable!--Why don't you wear a
braid across the top of your head? My dear child, everybody wears them:
won't your mamma let you?"

"It is not that, but you can't possibly make a braid to go over the top
and then two rolls behind, all out of your own hair."

"Well, you can get false hair. Ha! ha! what an innocent lamb you are!
You can get false hair, my dear child."

"Yes, but papa won't let me: he says I'm too young to begin."

"What a pity! As for me, I had no trouble about it. Mamma said, 'It's
vexatious, but what can you do, my child? You can't go to a ball in a
cap;' and so we went and bought two beautiful blond braids."

"Why two?"

"Let me finish.--See, there is Madame de V---- coming in: do you hear
the door creaking?--Well, as I was saying, I had to buy two braids, for
the very simple reason that I lost the first. It was very funny. We had
hired a coupe for the day, papa having taken ours for himself: he always
does. We started off for the hairdresser's in this hired carriage. I
bought a superb braid, and they wrapped it up nicely for me. I got into
the coupe and put my little parcel up against the window, you know,
under the strap that you pull it up and down by. That was all very nice,
but when we got home, and I was looking for my parcel before getting
out, no parcel was to be found. I made a great fuss, and mamma did too.
Only think! it had slipped in by the glass of the window, and had fallen
into the inside of the door. I suppose it's still there. There's no way
of getting it again, you see, so I had to buy another braid" (bending
down her head coquettishly), "which I have the honor of introducing to
you: it is thick, of a good color--one of the very best."

"Oh, I wish I could have one, but I'm afraid I sha'n't before I'm
married.--See, there is Jeanne bowing to us. Oh, that everlasting dress
of hers! Doesn't she look like a fright with that pink pom-pon in her
hair and her red nose? She's a kind-hearted girl, but then that pink!
Pink never looks well with light hair. It always looks to me like salmon
with white sauce. Ha! ha! Speaking of salmon, by the way, you left too
early the other evening: we had such a supper, my dear!"

"Oh, how lovely Juliette looked! Didn't she? What a lovely head she has!
I would give ten years of my life to have a head like hers. Ten years,
dear me! yes, gladly: life