I was very much hurt to
see my cousin was making fun of me.
"He looks like a bear, a badger, a wolf, a kite, anything rather than
a man," continued Leblanc. "What hands! what legs! And now he has been
cleaned up a little, he is nothing to what he was! You ought to have
seen him the day he arrived with his smock and his leather gaiters; it
was enough to take away one's breath."
"Do you think so?" answered Edmee. "For my part, I preferred him in his
poacher's garb. It suited his face and figure better."
"He looked like a bandit. You could not have looked at him properly,
mademoiselle."
"Oh! yes, I did."
The tone in which she pronounced these words, "Yes, I did," made me
shudder; and somehow I again felt upon my lips the impress of the kiss
she had given me at Roche-Mauprat.
"It would not be so bad if his hair were dressed properly," continued
the duenna; "but, so far, no one had been able to persuade him to have
it powdered. Saint-Jean told me that just as he was about to put the
powder puff to his head he got up in a rage and said, 'Anything you like
except that confounded flour. I want to be able to move my head about
without coughing and sneezing.' Heavens, what a savage!"
"Yet, in reality, he is quite right. If fashion did not sanction
the absurdity, everybody would perceive that it is both ugly and
inconvenient. Look and see if it is not more becoming to have long black
hair like his?"
"Long hair like that? What a mane.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144