Mollie gave a deep sigh of admiration.
"How exquisite!" Harriet exclaimed. "Whose dress is that, Madame? It looks like clouds or sea foam, or anything else that is delicately beautiful."
Madame shook out a delicate pale blue silk, covered with an even lighter tint of blue chiffon, which shaded gently into white.
"This dress was an order, Miss Hamlin," Madame Louise explained. "I sent to Paris for it. Of course it was some time before it arrived in Washington. In the meanwhile a death occurred in the family of the young woman who had ordered the dress. She is now in mourning, and she left the dress with me to sell for her. She is willing to let it go at a great bargain. The little frock would just about fit your young friend. Would she not be beautiful in it, with her pale yellow hair and her blue eyes? Ah, the frock looks as though it had been created for her! Do you think she would allow me to try it on her?"
"Do slip the frock on, Mollie," Harriet urged. "It will not take much time. And I would dearly love to see you in such a gown. It is the sweetest thing I ever saw."
Mollie shook her head. "It is not worth while for me to put it on,
Harriet. Madame must understand that I cannot possibly buy it."
"But the frock is such a bargain, Mademoiselle," the dressmaker continued. "I will sell it to you for a mere song."
"But I haven't the song to pay for it, Madame," Mollie laughed. "Come on,
Harriet. We must be going."
"Of course you can't buy the dress, Mollie," Harriet interposed. "But Madame will not mind your just slipping into it. Try it on, just for my sake. I know you will look like a perfect dream."
Mollie could not refuse Harriet's request.