A small hand, which seemed to blush at
its own naked beauties, supported her head, embedded in the volumes of
her hair, like the fairest alabaster set in the deepest ebony. Beneath
the dark profusion of her curls, which, notwithstanding the sweeping
train that fell about her person, covered the summit of her head, lay a
low spotless forehead of dazzling whiteness, that was relieved by two
arches so slightly and truly drawn that they appeared to have been
produced by the nicest touches of art. The fallen lids and long silken
lashes concealed the eyes that rested on the floor, as if their mistress
mused in melancholy. The remainder of the features of this maiden were
of a kind that is most difficult to describe, being neither regular nor
perfect in their several parts, yet harmonizing and composing a whole
that formed an exquisite picture of female delicacy and loveliness.
There might or there might not have been a tinge of slight red in her
cheeks, but it varied with each emotion of her bosom, even as she mused
in quiet, now seeming to steal insidiously over her glowing temples, and
then leaving on her face an almost startling paleness. Her stature, as
she reclined, seemed above the medium height of womanhood, and her
figure was rather delicate than full, though the little foot that rested
on the damask cushion before her displayed a rounded outline that any of
her sex might envy.
"Oh! I'm as expert as if I were signal officer to the lord high admiral
of this realm!" exclaimed the laughing female on the floor, clapping her
hands together in girlish exultation.
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