"And thou, Carlice, shalt wear what suits thee at long last," said an ungainly aunt to an equally ungainly niece. "Ah, but she has the taste, the little Comtesse!" On all sides there were sounds of rejoicing and pleasure at seeing the pretty child back again. Margot heard the words, but she had all the dignity of her race. She told Madame Coquenne and Madame Lise that she would be with them soon, as soon as possible, and then she went off to attend to Louise Grognan. "I want a chapeau," said Louise. "You put on wonderful airs, Margot, seeing you are only a shopkeeper." Margot looked at Louise out of her beautiful, deep, loving eyes. "Do you want to say unkind things to me, Louise?" she remarked. "_Ma belle_ grand'mère wishes me to help her a little and I am willing to do it, for she is overworked, but _mon bon_ grandpère he knows nothing, he thinks me a fine lady, la Comtesse St. Juste. I consider that a fine lady is the one who does best her duty." "Are you coming back to our school?" interrupted Louise. "No, I'm too busy for the school." "Ah, I thought as much. Besides, we do not take shopkeepers at our school." "But thy _bon père_ is a restaurant keeper. I see not the difference." Louise gave an angry clench of her little fists. "Dost thou not know, _petite fille_, that I myself keep no restaurant personally? _Mon père_, he works for me; the difference is wide, immense." "_Mon père est mort_," answered Margot in a sad voice. "Thou didst ask for a chapeau. Wilt thou select?" Louise chose a very tall, beehive-shaped head-dress of vivid green, trimmed with quantities of grass of the same shade. "It will not suit thee, Louise," said Margot, in her gentle, fascinating voice. "Well, what wouldst thou suggest?" asked Louise, who was too well aware of the excellence of Margot's taste to dare to despise it. "I would dress thee so," said Margot, and she produced a soft, black hat, very soft, very light, which could be turned up at the side and into which Margot arranged a little piece of ribbon, bright, soft, crimson, which made an arresting note in the blackness of the hat. "Behold, here is thy chapeau!" said Margot. Louise pouted a little, looked longingly at the grass-green hat, but finally succumbed to the black hat with the crimson ribbon. Margot brought her before a large mirror and made her see herself in both hats. "Ah, bah, thou must not be seen in that!" she said, flinging the grass-green chapeau aside. "Now behold the other hat! The complexion it softens, the eyes they glow, the crimson note of colour softens the colour in thy lips and cheeks. It is _très beau_ that chapeau; it suits thee, Louise. It is my wish that thou shouldst wear it." "Ah, _c'est bien_," exclaimed Louise. "But the price, the price must be low."