One of the two presented nothing to interest me. The other--devoted
to the preservation of the costumes, articles of toilet, and other
properties used in the dramatic Entertainment--proved to be better worth
examining: for it led me straight to the discovery of one of its owner's
secrets.
I found all the dresses in the box complete--with one remarkable
exception. That exception was the dress of the old north-country lady;
the character which I have already mentioned as the best of all my
pupil's disguises, and as modeled in voice and manner on her old
governess, Miss Garth. The wig; the eyebrows; the bonnet and veil; the
cloak, padded inside to disfigure her back and shoulders; the paints and
cosmetics used to age her face and alter her complexion--were all gone.
Nothing but the gown remained; a gaudily-flowered silk, useful enough
for dramatic purposes, but too extravagant in color and pattern to bear
inspection by daylight. The other parts of the dress are sufficiently
quiet to pass muster; the bonnet and veil are only old-fashioned, and
the cloak is of a sober gray color. But one plain inference can be drawn
from such a discovery as this. As certainly as I sit here, she is
going to open the campaign against Noel Vanstone and Mrs.
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