Come, we have no time to lose.

You know we must assist each other." I insisted on being her handmaid first, and lingered over her toilet till she literally escaped from my hands and drew behind the lace curtains like a star behind a cloud.

Our dresses were alike, as the generous Edith had willed.

They were of the most exquisite India muslin, simply but elegantly decorated with the finest of lace.

I had never before been arrayed for an evening party, and as the gauzy fulness of drapery fell so softly and redundantly over the form I had been accustomed to see in the sad-colored robes of mourning, I hardly recognized my own lineaments.