heir appearance under the
peristyle of the rotunda. The name of the young girl was Georgette; the
beautiful little spaniel's was Frisky. Georgette was in her eighteenth
year. Never had Florine or Manton, never had a lady's maid of Marivaux, a
more mischievous face, an eye more quick, a smile more roguish, teeth
more white, cheeks more roseate, figure more coquettish, feet smaller, or
form smarter, attractive, and enticing. Though it was yet very early,
Georgette was carefully and tastefully dressed. A tiny Valenciennes cap,
with flaps and flap-band, of half peasant fashion, decked with
rose-colored ribbons, and stuck a little backward upon bands of beautiful
fair hair, surrounded her fresh and piquant face; a robe of gray
levantine, and a cambric neck-kerchief, fastened to her bosom by a large
tuft of rose-colored ribbons, displayed her figure elegantly rounded; a
hollands apron, white as snow, trimmed below by three large hems,
surmounted by a Vandyke-row, encircled her waist, which was as round and
flexible as a reed; her short, plain sleeves, edged with bone lace,
allowed her plump arms to be seen, which her long Swedish gloves,
reaching to the elbow, defended from the rigor of the cold. When
Georgette raised the bottom of her dress, in order to descend more
quickly the steps, she exhibited to Frisky's indifferent eyes a beautiful
ankle, and the beginning of the plump calf of a fine leg, encased in
white silk, and a charming little foot, in a laced half-boot of Turkish
satin. When a blonde like Georgette sets herself to be ensnaring; when
vivid glances sparkle from her eyes of bright yet tender blue; when a
joyous excitement suffuses her transparent skin, she is more resistless
for the conquest of everything before her than a brunette.

This bewitching and nimble lady's-maid, who on the previous evening had
introduced Agricola to the pavilion, was first waiting woman to the
Honorable Miss Adrienne de Cardoville, niece of the Princess Saint
Dizier.

Frisky, so happily found and brought back by the blacksmith, uttered weak
but joyful barks, and bounded, ran, and frolicked upon the turf. She was
not much bigger than one's fist; her curled hair, of lustrous black,
shone like ebony, under the broad, red satin ribbon which encircled her
neck; her paws, fringed with long silken fur, were of a bright and fiery
tan, as well as her muzzle, the nose of which was inconceivably pug; her
large eyes were full of intelligence; and