building up, with paste and powder and the like, an original conception
of his, namely, a northern landscape, with snow-laden trees, drifts of
snow, diamond icicles, and even a cottage beside an ice-bound stream. She
could ill spare the time, and longed to be excused; but the artist had
begged so hard to be allowed to carry out his brilliant and unique idea,
this last time of attending on Madame l'Ambassadrice, that there was no
resisting him, and perhaps her strange forebodings made her less willing
to inflict a disappointment on the poor man. It would have been strange
to contrast the fabric of vanity building up outside her head, with the
melancholy bodings within it, as she sat motionless under the
hairdresser's fingers; but at the end she roused herself to smile
gratefully, and give the admiration that was felt to be due to the
monstrosity that crowned her. Forbearance and Christian patience may be
exercised even on a toilette a la Louis XV. Long practice enabled her to
walk about, seat herself, rise and curtsey without detriment to the
edifice, or bestowing the powder either on her neighbours or on the
richly-flowered white brocade she wore; while she received the
compliments, one after another, of ladies in even more gorgeous array,
and gentlemen in velvet coats, adorned with gold lace, cravats of
exquisite fabric, and diamond shoe buckles.

Phelim Burke, otherwise l'Abbe de St. Eudoce, stood near her. He was a
thin, yellow, and freckled youth, with sandy hair and typical Irish
features, but without their drollery, and his face was what might have
been expected in a half-starved, half-clad gossoon in a cabin, rather
than surmounting a silken _soutane_ in a Parisian salon; but he had a
pleasant smile when kindly addressed by his friends.

Presently Lady Nithsdale drew near, accompanied by a tall, grave
gentleman, and bringing with them a still taller youth, with the stiffest
of backs and the longest of legs, who, when presented, made a bow
apparently from the end of his spine, like Estelle's lamented
Dutch-jointed doll when made to sit down. Moreover, he was more shabbily
dressed than any other gentleman present, with a general outgrown look
about his coat, and darns in his silk stockings; and though they were
made by the hand of a Countess, that did not add to their elegance. And
as he stood as stiff as a ramrod or as a sentinel, Estelle's good
breeding was all called into play, and her mother's heart qua