Monsieur Lamonti read the note, then passed it back to her with the observation:
"It is certainly a fine hand, mademoiselle, and if it is an exponent of Mr. Faxon's character, I should judge him to be a frank, honest, high-minded young man."
Mollie was, of course, pleased with this tribute to her lover, for she saw that it was sincere, while she knew that Monsieur Lamonti was a keen observer, and she was sure that he regarded Clifford with approbation.
The next afternoon, while she was putting some finishing touches to an evening dress which she had remodeled to wear to the opera, Monsieur Lamonti's coachman drove to the door, and a few moments later Eliza came to her, bringing a good-sized box.
On opening it, Mollie gave a cry of delight as her eyes fell upon a rare collection of hot-house flowers, whose perfume filled the room, and which she well knew, without glancing at the accompanying card, had been culled from the greenhouse of her good friend.
"How kind, how thoughtful he always is!" she murmured appreciatively as she buried her face in the mass of luxuriant bloom to inhale the delicious fragrance.
Later, when Clifford called for her she was radiantly lovely in her rich, lustrous silk of pale blue, another creation of Worth's, and a remnant of her old-time glory which had long been packed away as unsuitable to wear in her present circumstances. The dress, with a few alterations, seemed almost like new.
She wore diamonds upon her neck and in her ears; also a dazzling ornament in her golden hair, for her jewels—many of which had been her mother's—had also been carefully stowed away, her father having insisted that she should keep them, although she had cheerfully offered to relinquish every one if such sacrifice would lighten his burdens in any way. But he had told her, "No; every debt would be paid, and the gems were too sacred to be surrendered."
Her hands and arms were encased in long white gloves, chosen from the box with which Monsieur Lamonti had presented her, and as Faxon entered, she was just tying a long ribbon around a bouquet which she had arranged from Monsieur Lamonti's floral offering.
The young man's eyes glowed with tender admiration as Mollie went forward to meet him.