interested on the subject of the dress to notice
that she had forgotten herself already, and that she had referred to
Magdalen by her own name. Mrs. Lecount's sharp ears detected the mistake
the instant it was committed. "So! so!" she thought. "One discovery
already. If I had ever doubted my own suspicions, here is an estimable
lady who would now have set me right.--I beg your pardon," she
proceeded, aloud, "did you say this was modeled from one of your niece's
dresses?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Wragge. "It's as like as two peas."

"Then," replied Mrs. Lecount, adroitly, "there must be some serious
mistake in the making of your niece's dress. Can you show it to me?"

"Bless your heart--yes!" cried Mrs. Wragge. "Step this way, ma'am; and
bring the gown along with you, please. It keeps sliding off, out of pure
aggravation, if you lay it out on the table. There's lots of room on the
bed in here."

She opened the door of communication and led the way eagerly into
Magdalen's room. As Mrs. Lecount followed, she stole a look at her
watch. Never before had time flown as it flew that morning! In twenty
minutes more Mr. Bygrave would be back from his bath.

"There!" said Mrs. Wragge, throwing open the wardrobe, and taking a
dress down from one of the pegs. "Look there! There's plaits on her
Boasom, and plaits on mine. Six of one and half a dozen of the other;
and mine are the biggest--that's all!"

Mrs. Lecount shook her head gravely, and entered forthwith into
subtleties of disquisition on the art of dressmaking which had the
desired effect of utterly bewildering the proprietor of the Oriental
Cashmere Robe in less than three minutes.

"Don't!" cried Mrs. Wragge, imploringly. "Don't go on like that! I'm
miles behind you; and my head's Buzzing already. Tell us, like a good
soul, what's to be done. You said something about the pattern just now.
Perhaps I'm too big for the pattern? I can't help it if I am. Many's
the good cry I had, when I was a growing girl, over my own size! There's
half too much of me, ma'am--measure me along or measure me across, I
don't deny it--there's half too much of me, anyway."

"My dear madam," protested Mrs. Lecount, "you do yourself a wrong!
Permit me to assure you that you possess a commanding figure--a figure
of Minerva. A majestic simplicity in the form of a woman imperatively
demands a majestic simplicity in the form of that woman's dress. The
laws of costume are classical; the laws of costume m