“This is only the material,” said Mariana. “I finished it the day you came, after being engaged on it three years. It is all hand-spun and woven, but now I’ve put the loom and spinning-wheel away in those big chests. One does not want too many things about.”
“But who taught you?”
“Oh! it is knowledge one acquires. It needs a certain kind of brain and a given pattern, that is all.”
Then she went over to one of the chests and opened it, and took from it a parcel which she untied. It contained a quantity of most lovely lace, the like of which Rosalie had never seen before.
“Did you make this?” she asked.
“No; it belongs to the Master. I found it in the lumber rooms among the attics, and asked him for it, and so he gave it to me.”
“Gave it to you? It looks almost priceless.”
“I know—reckoned from some standpoints. But I liked the design. It is lovers’ knots, and sprays of lily of the valley. Have you noticed it?”
“Yes.”
“It was that that put it in my head about the wedding-dress. When I have finished, it will be a beautiful creation.”