"Ah, well, go, my good friends, and fascinate the ancient Comte. He will admire, he will adore. He is susceptible to the charms of beauty. When you have won his confidence he will talk of your chapeau, M'selle Blanc, and yours, M'selle Close; and then you must raise the hands in rapture, and talk and talk and talk, and when you have roused his enthusiasm, you must tell him that these things were chosen and sold to you by one _très jeune_ and _très belle_. Excite his interest; tell him that there never was one with quite such taste as that _jeune petite_. He will offer to go with you to see that young _marvel_, and behold! you will take him. You will go in my car, and you will take him with you into the town and into the _établissement_; and he will see _la petite_ Comtesse; he will know for himself what his granddaughter does. The little green lizard will shine no longer in the sun; the little green snake in the grass must from henceforth conceal herself; and I, see! I will reward you both." "How much?" asked M'selle Blanc, who felt considerably afraid of M. le Comte. "I will ask _mon père_; I will tell him all. What do you say to being robed from head to foot by _la petite_ Comtesse in the _établissement_ Marcelle? Think what a joy that will be! Such a perfect reward. Then listen again--I know mothers and elder sisters of M'selles in my school; they shall come to you--oh! in numbers, to have their youth renewed. Is not that enough?" M'selle Close and M'selle Blanc thought that the terms were sufficient and arranged to go on the following morning to visit M. le Comte. Meanwhile M'selle was to send them _les chapeaux ravissants_, admirable, which they were to wear for the occasion. They must look truly _jeunes_ demoiselles. "Now then, I must go, but I will send the chapeaux, rest assured." Louise departed, and M'selle Blanc and M'selle Close consulted together how they were to turn themselves into _jeunes_ demoiselles. They had, it is true, many patrons, and after consulting for a short time together, they decided to adopt the names of two young ladies who had come to the _Cabinet de Beauté_ to have their hands manicured, and who belonged to the _noblesse_. These young ladies, they were assured, were absent from home at present. They might with safety take their names. They were the daughters of the Marquis Odile. They had only lately taken a house at Arles, where they lived with their father and mother, and were called the Marquise Clotilde and the Marquise Rose. "Ah," exclaimed M'selle Blanc, "that name will suit my _chapeau noir_, garnished with roses _la reine_." The Marquise Clotilde would look very sweet indeed in her _très petit chapeau_.