It is necessary to mention this, because the facts were
afterwards misrepresented.
CHAPTER XIV
"The character is lost!
Her head adorned with lappets, pinned aloft,
And ribands streaming gay, superbly raised,
Indebted to some smart wig-weaver's hand
For more than half the tresses it sustains."--COWPER.
Upon her return to Paris, Victoire felt melancholy; but she exerted
herself as much as possible in her usual occupation; finding that
employment and the consciousness of doing her duty were the best remedies
for sorrow.
One day as she was busy settling Madame Feuillot's accounts a servant
came into the shop and inquired for Mademoiselle Victoire: he presented
her a note, which she found rather difficult to decipher. It was signed
by her cousin Manon, who desired to see Victoire at her hotel. "_Her
hotel_!" repeated Victoire with astonishment. The servant assured her
that one of the finest hotels in Paris belonged to his lady, and that he
was commissioned to show her the way to it. Victoire found her cousin in
a magnificent house, which had formerly belonged to the Prince de Salms.
Manon, dressed in the disgusting, indecent extreme of the mode, was
seated under a richly-fringed canopy. She burst into a loud laugh as
Victoire entered.
"You look just as much astonished as I expected," cried she. "Great
changes have happened since I saw you last--I always told you, Victoire,
I knew the world better than you did.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179