with me; that I lived a very quiet life at home, and had expected
nothing different here; that, to be quite frank, I had not such a
thing as an evening dress in the world. Miss Persis turned pale with
distress and mortification; but Madam Le Baron looked at me quietly,
with her lovely smile.

"I will provide you with a suitable dress, my child," she said.
"I have something that will do very well for you. If you like to go
to your room now, my maid will attend you, and bring what is
necessary. We expect our guests in time for supper, at eight o'clock."

Decidedly, I had walked into a fairy tale, or else I was dreaming!
Here I sat in a room hung with flowered damask, in a wonderful chair,
by a wonderful fire; and a fairy, little and withered and brown,
dressed in what I knew must be black bombazine, though I knew it
only from descriptions, was bringing me tea, and plum-cake, on a
silver tray. She looked at me with kind, twinkling eyes, and said
she would bring the dress at once; then left me to my own wondering
fancies. I hardly knew what to be thinking of, so much was happening:
more, it seemed, in these few hours, than in all my life before. I
tried to fix my mind on the gay party that would soon fill the silent
house with life and tumult; I tried to fancy how Miss Effie Gay
would look, and what she would say to me; but my mind kept coming
back to the dress, the evening dress, that I was to be privileged to
wear. What would it be like? Would silk or muslin be prettier? If
only it were not pink! A red-haired girl in pink was a sad sight!

Looking up, I saw a portrait on the wall, of a beautiful girl, in a
curious, old-time costume. The soft dark eyes and regal turn of the
head told me that it was my hostess in her youth; and even as I