Her beautiful neck
and white arms were bare. She wore a diamond necklace of almost
priceless value; her dark, shining hair was crowned with a circlet of
the same royal stones; a diamond bracelet clasped one rounded arm. As
she moved the light shone on her dress and gleamed on her jewels, until
one was dazed with her splendor.
Lady Amelie was very particular about her flowers. On this evening, with
her costly dress and magnificent jewels, she would have nothing but
white daphnes. Did she know that the sweet, subtle fragrance of a daphne
reaches the senses long before the odor of other flowers touches them?
As she surveyed herself in the mirror, she felt devoutly satisfied.
"I shall be able to convert Basil Carruthers, Esq., to anything I like,"
she said; "if he has resisted all the world, he will yield to me."
So she drove off, resplendent, happy, animated, ready for the weaving of
her spells.
Any good Christian, seeing her pass by with that triumphant smile on her
lovely face, might have prayed their nearest and dearest should be kept
from harm.
Lady Amelie never arrived very early at a ball. She liked to make her
entree when most of the other guests were assembled. It was sweet to her
to see how sorry and shy the ladies looked at her arrival, and how the
faces of the men brightened. The first thing, of course, when she
arrived at Hexham House, was the archduke. It was wonderful to watch the
various phases of character that she could assume at will.
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