Her Royal Lover: A Novel — page 243: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

HER ROYAL LOVER. 235 one man alone, in a single life-time, may have ever been able to merit so much! Who was this sover- eign or Russian grand duke who once said, on re- garding some breast thus decorated: “How many badly placed stars!” He would have been able to repeat this remark, so just, regarding this day, all those breasts, which disappeared entirely behind the nauseously prodigious number of stars, of crosses, of medals, of palms, of ribbons, etc., etc., which were glittering upon them. The homely meager daughters of the grandmis- tress in nowise renewed the golden youth which they still had the pretension to possess. It certainly was to be much doubted that this fete was to become a day of triumph for them, but nevertheless what ex- pense, what efforts! With a stiffness which they mistook for grace, they wore, pitifully enough, white tarletan robes over petticoats of onion-colored taffeta; the length of their trains extended so far, that they were obliged to keep their adorers at a very great distance. Their poor, shriveled, faded faces, were smothered under the immense weight of enormous crowns of apple-blossoms—oh! for once they had been lavish! Made by their own economi- cal hands, they had not hesitated to fling away here a, profusion of leaves and flowers; fruits alone were wanting; they had not dared. The day, so favor- able to the beautiful, seemed incensed against these homely unfortunate creatures, penetrating in floods in the vast reception-room; it was pleasing itself like a malicious child, by revealing to indiscreet re- gards the wrinkles and the crow’s-feet that the poor old maids had in vain endeavored to remove, 1n order to repair the irreparable ravages of time. Madame de Mineleko, as ex-ambassadress, was Eomicbooks.com