But the
girlhood had gone out of them, the face was now the face of a woman
who knew what life meant, and had not found it too easy. It had lost
some of its dreaminess, he thought, though it had gained in
intellectual force. As for the figure, it was much more admirable than
the face, which was strictly speaking not a beautiful one. The figure,
however, was undoubtedly beautiful, indeed, it is doubtful if many
women could show a finer. Ida de la Molle was a large, strong woman,
and there was about her a swing and a lissom grace which is very rare,
and as attractive as it is rare. She was now nearly six-and-twenty
years of age, and not having begun to wither in accordance with the
fate which overtakes all unmarried women after thirty, was at her very
best. Harold Quaritch, glancing at her well-poised head, her perfect
neck and arms (for she was in evening dress) and her gracious form,
thought to himself that he had never seen a nobler-looking woman.
"Why, my dear father," she went on as she watched the candle burn up,
"you made such a fuss this morning about the dinner being punctually
at half-past seven, and now it is eight o'clock and you are not
dressed. It is enough to ruin any cook," and she broke off for the
first time, seeing that her father was not alone.
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