“Yes, I have to thank Madame Alvara for that. You see, if I were to give you my recipe you might ruin your skin. Oh, every case has quite individual attention and treatment. The staff only work under Madame Alvara’s directions. Yes, they are busy, fairly busy, continuing the treatment of cases which were begun last season. No new cases will be taken till Madame Alvara returns.”
So Regina had no choice but to make an appointment for the 5th of October, that being the first hour which could be placed at her disposal. She then went off, after disappointment one, to Madame Winifred Polson. She had difficulty in finding the place, and when she did find it, it did not commend itself to her ideas of shrewd common-sense. However, she left a couple of guineas behind her and brought away instead a little box of something which rattled. Then she went and had some lunch—not tea and muffins this time, but a good hot lunch at a famous drapery establishment which she frequently patronized. After that she made some purchases, and then she went in search of an establishment whose advertisements she had noticed in a ladies’ paper which she had taken up while waiting for her lunch to be served. “To Ladies,” it said. “If you have no lady’s maid you cannot possibly care for your own hair as the glory of womanhood should be cared for. Go and consult the ladies who run The Dressing-Room. You can have special treatment for hair that is not quite in health, special brushings for hair that merely needs attention, and can consult with experts as to the most becoming way of wearing your hair.”
“That is the place for me,” said Regina, taking note of the address. And so, after paying her two guineas to Madame Polson, she next turned her steps toward the street wherein she should find The Dressing-Room.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE DRESSING-ROOM
I am convinced that there is a huge opening for what I would call an all-round advice bureau. Its claims would reach far and wide, its clients would be drawn from all classes. Among them would be the women who have no taste in dress. The only difficulty would be to convince them of the fact.
Regina found The Dressing-Room without difficulty. To be exact, it was situated in Berners Street and the number was forty-five. Regina gained admittance, was greeted pleasantly, and expressed a certain portion of her wishes.
“You would like to have your hair brushed?” said the charming little lady who received her. “Oh, but you have beautiful hair,” she said, having enveloped Regina in a snowy garment, unfastened the still abundant coils, and allowed the locks to stray over her shoulders. “O, you have lovely hair, but how little you make of it!”