According to St. John; A Novel (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III Jean found the biscuit-box pushed under the bed, and lifted out the Parthenia costume piece by piece. The upper robe, a pale blue cashmere, was edged with a Greek pattern of silver in machine embroidery; the under garment, of white woollen stuff, had only a deep hem. There was a fillet of silver-gilt for the hair, and bracelets for wrist and upper arm, connected by tarnished chains. Jean brought them into the studio, where Mrs Farrance was excitedly taking out rouge and powder and hares' feet and little swan's-down puffs from a cardboard box. "It is getting dark," she said; "you must see me in all my glory. We'll pull a sail over the window and light the candles, but you mustn't watch me 'make-up, ' it gives me the fidgets. I'll go into the other room, and you can wait here with the baby, and shake out the dress." She gathered up an armful of her little pots and bottles, and went into the next room, letting down the draperyfrom its wooden hook, which Jean had gilded freshly the day before. The baby was asleep on a pile of cushions in the Venetian chair. Outside there was a slow colourless rain falling. An orange woman's stand, with its two orange-tinted lamps stuck about like a fiery species of the same fruit, made a vivid glare of colour in the pale light. People straggled along, with and without umbrellas. A little girl of about six passed, running, her skirt turned over her blonde head, two enormous rings of bread dangling from either arm. Then, three more children, also running, boys this time, looking like small ink-spirits, with their Capucin hoods of black oil-skin drenched by the rain. A great waggon of straw creaked by, covered with its cloth of faded, weather-beaten sea-green. Then came fifteen huge gray percherons, straining under their load of crea...