"Really, Hester, Lord Hertford has paid you so many compliments this evening that you ought to be proud of them."
"Not at all," she answered. "Lord Hertford is deceived if he thinks that I am beautiful. Take each feature of my face separately and put them on the table; not one of them will bear examination. Put them together and illuminated, they are not bad. It is a homogeneous ugliness, nothing more."
A slight roll was disturbing the Jason. Lady Hester, lost in her thoughts, remained leaning against the netting. She recalled to mind some of those mordant sallies which had crucified her victims. Pitt had decided to create an Order of Merit; England was at this time in the thick of the war against France. Lord Liverpool was entrusted with the task of deciding on the colours of the decoration; and one evening he entered the Prime Minister's drawing-room, quite proud of himself and brandishing a tricolour ribbon.
"See," cried he, "how I have succeeded in combining colours which will flatter the natural pride: red is the British flag; blue is the symbol of liberty; white, the symbol of loyalty."
All present expressed their admiration.
"Perfect! Excellent! The King will be pleased!" they exclaimed.
"I am sure of it," remarked Lady Hester, "but it seems to me that I have seen that combination of colours somewhere!"
"Where was it?" inquired Liverpool, taken aback.
"Well, on the cockades of the French soldiers!"
"What ought to be done, Lady Hester? I have ordered five hundred yards of it. What use can I make of it?"