Plush, brocade, peacock's feathers,
golden bangles, mousquetaire gloves, a bonnet of purple plumage set off
by ornaments of filagree gold, an infantine little muff of lace and wild
flowers, buttercups and daisies; and hair, eyebrows and complexion as
artificial as the flowers on the muff.
All that art could do to obliterate the traces of age had been done for
Georgina Kirkbank. But seventy years are not to be obliterated easily,
and the crow's feet showed through the bloom de Ninon, and the eyes
under the painted arches were glassy and haggard, the carnation lips had
a withered look. Age was made all the more palpable by the artifice
which would have disguised it.
Lady Maulevrier suffered an absolute shock at beholding the friend of
her youth. She had not accustomed herself to the idea that women in
society could raddle their cheeks, stain their lips, and play tricks
before high heaven with their eyebrows and eyelashes. In her own youth
painted faces had been the ghastly privilege of a class of womankind of
which the women of society were supposed to know nothing.
Pages:
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233