From this dark frame, and in the half light of the avenue, the exquisite whiteness of the forehead and neck, the brown eyes, so marvellously large and brilliant, and yet so delicately finished in every detail beneath their perfect brows, and the curve of the lips over the small white teeth, stood out as if they had been painted on ivory by a miniature-painter of the Renaissance.

Her white dress, according to the prevailing fashion, was almost low--as children's frocks used to be in the days of our great-grandmothers.

It was made with a childish full bodice, and a childish sash of pale blue held up the rounded breast, that rose and fell with her breathing, beneath the white muslin.

Pale blue stockings, and a pair of white shoes, with preposterous heels and pointed toes, completed the picture.

The mingling, in the dress, of extreme simplicity with the cunningest artifice, and the greater daring and _joie de vivre_ which it expressed, as compared with the dress of pre-war days, made it characteristic and symbolic:--a dress of the New Time.
Geoffrey lay on the grass beside her, feasting his eyes upon her--discreetly.