She had quite accepted Lady Kirkbank's idea that bills
never need be discharged in full, and that the true system of finance
was to give an occasional cheque on account, as a sop to Cerberus. True,
that while Cerberus fattened on the sops the bill seemed always growing;
and the final crash, when Cerberus grew savage and sops could be no more
accepted, was too awful to be thought about.
Lesbia entered Seraphine's Louis-seize drawing-room with a faint
expectation of unpleasantness; but after a little whispering between
Lady Kirkbank and the dressmaker, the latter came to Lesbia smiling
graciously, and seemingly full of eagerness for new orders.
'Miladi says you want something of the most original--_tant soit peu
risque_--for 'Enley,' she said. 'Let us see now,' and she tapped her
forehead with a gold thimble which nobody had ever seen her use, but
which looked respectable. 'There is ze dresses that Chaumont wear in zis
new play, _Une Faute dans le Passe_. Yes, zere is the watare dress--a
boating party at Bougival, a toilet of the most new, striking,
_ecrasant_, what you English call a "screamer.
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