BEAUTY. 123

 

and her aunt was interrupted, at this point,
by the entrance of a visitor.

Mary was passing through her twentieth
summer. She was handsome; and she
knew it. No wonder, then, that she was
vain of her good looks. And being vain,
no wonder that, in attiring her person, she
thought less of maidenly good taste than
of that effect which quickly attracts the
eye.

She had beautiful hair, that curled natu-
rally, and so, when dressed for company, a
perfect shower of glossy ringlets played
ostentatiously about her freely exposed
snowy neck and shoulders, causing the eyes
of many to rest upon and follow her, whose
eyes a modest maiden might wish to be
turned away. In fact, Mary’s attire, which
was generally a little in excess, so set off
her showy person, that it was scarcely pos-
sible for her to be in company without be-
coming the observed of all observers, and
drawing around her a group of gay young

men, ever ready to offer flattering atten-
Ti—s