aring his passion there and then; only the presence of the crowd of
lookers-on saved Isabelle from what would have been a most trying and
painful scene.

The young duke was superbly dressed. He had spared no pains, for
he wanted to dazzle Isabelle, and he certainly did look splendidly
handsome. He wore a magnificent costume of rich white satin, slashed and
trimmed with crimson, with many knots of ribbon about it fastened with
diamond clasps, with broad ruffles of exquisitely fine lace at throat
and wrists, with a wide belt of cloth of silver supporting his sword,
and with perfumed gloves on the hands that held his white felt hat, with
its long crimson feather. His wavy black hair fell around the perfect
oval of his face, enhancing its smooth whiteness; a delicate mustache
shaded, not concealed, his full red lips; his splendid, great black
eyes flashed through their thick, silky fringes, and his neck, white
and round as a marble column, rose from amid its surrounding of soft,
priceless lace, proudly supporting his haughty, handsome head. Yet with
all this perfection of outline and colouring, his appearance was
not entirely pleasing; a repelling haughtiness shone out through the
perfectly modelled features, and it was but too evident that the joys
and sorrows of his fellow mortals would awaken no sympathy in the owner
of that surpassingly handsome face and form. He believed that he was not
made of common clay like other men, but was a being of a higher order,
who condescended to mingle with his inferiors--a piece of fine porcelain
amid homely vessels of coarser earthenware.

Vallombreuse stationed himself silently close beside the mirror on
Isabelle's dressing-table, leaning one elbow on its frame all the other
gallants respectfully making way for him--just where she could not
possibly help seeing him whenever she looked in the glass; a skilful
manoeuvre, which would surely have succeeded with any other than this
modest young girl. He wished to produce an impression, before addressing
a word to her, by his personal beauty, his lordly mien, and his
magnificence of apparel. Isabelle, who had instantly recognised the
audacious gallant of the garden, and who was displeased by the imperious
ardour of his gaze, redoubled her reserve of manner, and did not lift
her eyes to the mirror in front of her at all; she did not even seem
to be aware that one of the handsomest young noblemen in all France
was standing there before her, t