look
very odd then?"

"The eye was used to the fashion," said the old lady; "there is no
fashion, however monstrous, to which the eye does not become used in a
little while.

"By the time that all the caps were made, and all the artificial roses,
and lilacs, and pansies duly disposed, it was time to dress. You have
never been at school, or you would know what a bustle there is to get
all the little misses ready on a dancing day.

[Illustration: "_What a bustle there is to get ready on a dancing
day._"--Page 453.]

"It was time to light the candles long before Miss Latournelle
mustered us and led us down into the dancing-room. This was a long, low
room, having a parlour at one end of it, and at the other a kind of
hall, from which sprang a wide staircase, leading to the rooms over the
gateway; the balustrades of the staircase still showed some remains of
gilding.

"We were ranged on forms raised one above another, at the lowest end of
the room, and our master was strutting about the floor, now and then
giving us a flourish on his kit, when our youngest governess put her
head in at the door, and said:

"'Ladies, are you all ready? You must rise and curtsey low when the
company appears, and then sink quietly into your places.'

"She then retreated; and a minute afterwards the door from the parlour
was opened, and our eldest governess appeared ushering in the four
Mistresses Vaughan, followed by other visitors invited for this grand
occasion. There was awful knocking of heels and rustling of long silk
trains; and every person looked solemn and very upright.

"Miss Anne Vaughan, who came in first, led her niece in her hand, and
went sweeping round with her to the principal chair, for there was a
circle of chairs set for the company. When she had placed the little
lady at her right hand, and when the rest of the company were seated,
we on the forms had full leisure to look at this much envied object.
There was not one amongst us who would not have gladly changed places
with the little lady.

"Evelyn Vaughan was an uncommonly beautiful girl; she was then nearly
eleven years of age, and was taller than most children of her age, for
she had shot up rapidly during her illness. Her complexion was too
beautiful, too white, and too transparent; but she wanted not a soft
pink bloom in her cheeks, and her lips were of a deep coral. She had
an oval face and lovely features; her eyes were bright, though
particularly soft a