"It would depend upon how you finished the sleeves," remarked Madame
Récamier. "If you had a few puffs of rich brocaded satin set in with
deeply folded pleats it wouldn't be bad."

"I think it would be very effective," observed Mrs. Noah, "but a trifle
too light for general wear. I should want some kind of a wrap with it."

"It does need that," assented Elizabeth. "A wrap made of passementerie and
jet, with a mousseline de soie ruche about the neck held by a _chou_,
would make it fascinating."

"The committee on treachery is ready to report," said Delilah, rising from
her corner, where she and Lucretia Borgia had been having so animated a
discussion that they had failed to observe the others crowding about
Cleopatra and the papers.

[Illustration: "'THE COMMITTEE ON TREACHERY IS READY TO REPORT'"]

"A little sombre," said Cleopatra. "The corsage is effective, but I don't
like those basque terminations. I've never approved of those full
godets--"

"The committee on treachery," remarked Delilah again, raising her voice,
"has a suggestion to make."

"I can't get over those sleeves, though," laughed Helen of Troy. "What is
the use of them?"

"They might be used to get Greeks into Troy," suggested Madame Récamier.