Everything she wore was in the very latest fashion of the Parisian _demi-monde_, that exaggerated elegance of a fashion plate which only the most exquisite of women could redeem from vulgarity.

Plush, brocade, peacock's feathers, golden bangles, mousquetaire gloves, a bonnet of purple plumage set off by ornaments of filagree gold, an infantine little muff of lace and wild flowers, buttercups and daisies; and hair, eyebrows and complexion as artificial as the flowers on the muff.
All that art could do to obliterate the traces of age had been done for Georgina Kirkbank.

But seventy years are not to be obliterated easily, and the crow's feet showed through the bloom de Ninon, and the eyes under the painted arches were glassy and haggard, the carnation lips had a withered look.

Age was made all the more palpable by the artifice which would have disguised it.
Lady Maulevrier suffered an absolute shock at beholding the friend of her youth.

She had not accustomed herself to the idea that women in society could raddle their cheeks, stain their lips, and play tricks before high heaven with their eyebrows and eyelashes.