no ordinary tact in suggesting certain alterations in his _chapeaux_
and caps, in order to suit my face; and, aided by the inimitable good
taste of the Duchesse, who passes for an oracle in _affaires de modes à
Paris_, a selection was made that enabled me to leave M. Herbault's,
looking a little more like other people.

From his Temple of Fashion we proceeded to the _lingère à la mode_,
Mdlle. La Touche, where _canezous_ and _robes de matin_ were to be
chosen and ordered; and we returned to the Hôtel de la Terrasse, my
head filled with notions of the importance of dressing _à la mode_, to
which yesterday it was a stranger, and my purse considerably lightened
by the two visits I had paid.

Englishwomen who have not made their purchases at the houses of the
_marchandes de modes_ considered the most _recherché_ at Paris, have no
idea of the extravagance of the charges. Prices are demanded that
really make a prudent person start; nevertheless, she who wishes to
attain the distinction so generally sought, of being perfectly well
dressed, which means being in the newest fashion, must submit to pay
largely for it.

Three hundred and twenty francs for a crape hat and feathers, two
hundred for a _chapeau à fleurs_, one hundred for a _chapeau négligé de
matin_, and eighty-five francs for an evening-cap composed of tulle
trimmed with blonde and flowers, are among the prices asked, and, to my
shame be it said, given.

It is true, hats, caps, and bonnets may be had for very reasonable
prices in the shops in the Rue Vivienne and elsewhere at Paris, as I
and many of my female compatriots found out when I was formerly in this