Page 358 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

been introduced. Madame Merle was in front, and while
Isabel lingered a little, talking with him, she went forward
familiarly and greeted two persons who were seated in the
saloon. One of these was little Pansy, on whom she bestowed
a kiss; the other was a lady whom Mr. Osmond indicated to
Isabel as his sister, the Countess Gemini.
‘And that’s my little girl,’ he said, ‘who has just come out
of her convent.’
Pansy had on a scant white dress, and her fair hair was
neatly arranged in a net; she wore her small shoes tied
sandal-fashion about her ankles. She made Isabel a little
conventual curtsey and then came to be kissed. The Count-
ess Gemini simply nodded without getting up: Isabel could
see she was a woman of high fashion. She was thin and dark
and not at all pretty, having features that suggested some
tropical bird—a long beak-like nose, small, quickly-moving
eyes and a mouth and chin that receded extremely. Her ex-
pression, however, thanks to various intensities of emphasis
and wonder, of horror and joy, was not inhuman, and, as
regards her appearance, it was plain she understood herself
and made the most of her points. Her attire, voluminous
and delicate, bristling with elegance, had the look of shim-
mering plumage, and her attitudes were as light and sudden
as those of a creature who perched upon twigs. She had a
great deal of manner; Isabel, who had never known any one
with so much manner, immediately classed her as the most
affected of women. She remembered that Ralph had not
recommended her as an acquaintance; but she was ready to
acknowledge that to a casual view the Countess Gemini re-

358 The Portrait of a Lady