156 WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND. ipeee

Poor Simon was by this time nearly beside him-
self with the changes which his new position had
entailed upon him, and having hitherto withstood the
alteration in house and manner of living which'had
been so pressed upon him, thought he had better
make the concession now demanded. Accordingly
Dolly Matson had to make those preparations for
going to Court which are necessary to all ladies who
perform this duty, but which were tenfold more terrible
and troublesome to her than to the majority of such
fair creatures. For fashionable dresses and fashion-
able dressmakers were as yet unknown to Dolly, and
their acquaintance was not to be made without much
trouble. You may depend upon it that Simon had
to go to his treasure drawer more than once during
the intervening time between his yielding the point
and the arrival of the day upon which the wished-for
ceremony was to be performed. Dolly, however,
fortunately fell into clever hands, and having a figure
which it was a pleasure to dress well, was turned out
in a most becoming manner for the great occasion.

I suppose there was hardly a nicer-looking girl at
the Drawing-room that day, and moreover she had
taken such lessons in curtseying as to be quite perfect
in the art, provided that she did not lose her nerve
upon the first occasion of finding herself face to face
with Royalty. What the exact result of that awful
moment really was has never been accurately ascer-
tained. All that may here be told is the fact that the
day was one of great and sad disappointment. Dolly
had formed high expectations of the courteous good-
breeding which would be uppermost among those