She was richly but simply dressed in a heavy silk gown of a dull milky white, without ornament. A small circle of diamonds embellished her glossy black hair, parted in bands over a smooth, pure forehead. Doubtless she could have worn richer jewels, but her coronet was a work of art of most excellent workmanship, and did not weary her small, admirably poised head with a dragging weight. Her shoulders, half bare, had lost the interesting thinness of early youth, and had not yet attained the luxuriant rotundity of the third or fourth youth. There were still some delicate lines in her figure, and in her every movement a careless suppleness, which seemed to be unaware of its own existence and to pose for no one. With the end of her fan she slowly waved aside the footman and the majordomo, who were exerting themselves to make room for her, and passed before them, stepping easily and without awkward haste over the boards and rolls of carpet which still lay in her path; and with a sort of heedlessness, humble or lordly, as you please, allowing the long folds of her beautiful white silk dress to drag in the dust left by the feet of the mechanics. With no sign of repugnance, perhaps without observing them, she brushed against the perspiring workmen, who could not step aside quickly enough. She passed through a group of gardeners, who were moving huge boxes, and did not seem to notice or to be disturbed by the danger of being crushed or wounded. She returned the salutations of those who saluted her, without the slightest assumption of superiority or patronage, and when she was in the midst of the swarm of men, boards, ladders, and canvas, she halted very calmly, looked about to see what was finished and what was not, and said in a mild and encouraging voice: "Well, _gentlemen_, do you hope to have everything finished in time? We have barely half an hour." "I will answer for everything, my dear princess," replied Pier-Angelo, approaching her with a cheerful air; "don't you see that I am putting my hand to everything?" "In that case, I have no fear," said she, "and I rely also upon everybody here. It would be a pity to leave such a beautiful piece of work unfinished. I am exceedingly pleased. It is all conceived with taste and executed with great care. I thank you very much for the pains you have taken to do the work well, _gentlemen_, and this fête will redound to your glory." "My son Michel will have his share in it, I trust," rejoined the old decorator; "will your ladyship deign to permit me to present him to you? Come, Michel, come and kiss the princess's hand, my son; she is a kind princess, you see!"