"_Non, non_," exclaimed both ladies. "It is perfect, assuredly, but _la petite_, she does not sell--to sell is to belong to us. We sell, thy father, M'selle, _he_ sells; but _la petite_ she belongs to the nobility. I hate them, _pour moi_, still they exist." "Now will you listen, M'selle Blanc," exclaimed Louise. "It is true, what I tell you--it is true what I tell you both. M'selle has a grand'père, and also _la belle_ grand'mère employs her in her _magasin_--kept it is _supposed_ by Madame Marcelle, but really it flourishes because of the rare taste of _la petite_ Comtesse Margot. She goes there daily for two hours a day, and behold! the chapeaux they vanish; the robes they disappear; the dainty ribbons and sashes and gloves, they are not; the embroidered stockings they are not; the shoes they are not; and all because of the taste of _la petite_. Think you that the _établissement_ would flourish without _la petite_? Well, now, M. le Comte St. Juste, he knows nothing of this, but I want you both to enlighten him. I have my reasons which I need not disclose; will you both, _chères M'selles_, dress as the youngest do--ah, so beautifully; make the variety of the _toilette_, the change that pleases, that enchants? Wear a _chapeau noir_, M'selle Blanc, garnished with roses _la reine_; and you, M'selle Close, wear _le petit chapeau avec une plume noire et sans_ roses. Oh, la, la, you will both look but eighteen; then go straight to see M'sieur the Comte St. Juste, wearing the touch of rouge--only the mere touch--and that tone of darkness under the eyes which gives the expression so _nouvelle et si jeune_. You will know what to do. Do not allude to the fact that you came as _gouvernantes_ alternate days to the little snake in the grass and the little green lizard basking in the sun. Speak to him as strangers. Have you got any friends whose names you could assume for the purpose?" The ladies knew many of the noblesse. They could, ah, _oui, certainement_, choose the names.