“I surely heard you ring for me, madam.”
“I did not ring,” answered Nancy.
“Another time, knock before you enter a room, Hester,” said Lady Georgina in her curtest, shortest voice.
“Yes, please do, Hester,” said Nancy; “but now that you are here, stay. I want to try on my new ball dress. You told me, did you not, that it had arrived from Madame Delaroi’s last night?”
“Yes, madam, it is in the large wardrobe.”
Hester crossed the room as she spoke, opened a wardrobe, and took out a magnificent dress of the palest cream brocade, richly and heavily embroidered with seed pearls.
“Ah!” cried Lady Georgina, “that dress is worth looking at. It really makes my mouth water. For the third time, I say, what it is to be rich!”
“The dress is lovely,” said Nance. She went up to it, and, lifting the train, flung it over her arm.
“It is not only the material but the style,” said Lady Georgina. “Why, it is unique, perfect. Madame Delaroi is a genius. See this enticing petticoat. Notice the train—the way it will set. You must be careful how you hold it up to-night, Nancy. See, oh, do see this fascinating little shoe with its pearl buckle. Get into your costume, my dear; be quick about it. You will certainly be Gainsborough’s Dame Rowton come alive.”
“If I might venture to speak, madam,” said Hester, “I think your hair ought to be arranged to correspond with the dress, or it will be impossible to judge of the general effect. The hair must, of course, be piled up very high on the head and powdered.”