CHAPTER XXXIX.
Whatever had been the pleasures or pains, wishes or disappointments attending preparation for the fancy fair, when the day actually arrived, all was with Lady Anne couleur de rose. Her rich, becoming dress fitted her perfect shape most admirably, and Fanchette had never arranged her coiffure to more advantage; the rich lappet of blonde, carelessly tied under the chin, hid all the "defeatures time had made," without hiding the long white throat, for which she had always been remarkable, and was a beauty which had descended to all her daughters, even to the stigmatized Isabella. The very, very delicate tint of rouge was admirably applied, and could never be suspected, for it supplied no actual bloom, yet diffused a healthy hue, giving animation to the character of the countenance, and brilliance to the eyes. "Very well, indeed, exceeding well, for un peu passée, the mother of five young women. 'Tis as well they are not here, perhaps," said Lady Anne, as she examined herself from side to side, in the longest cheval the hotel afforded.
The excellent rooms appropriated to the fancy fair had been tastefully ornamented, the stands well ar-