Instead of at once proceeding to dress herself, she sat idly looking at the two muslin gowns; careless which she wore, and yet inconsistently hesitating which to choose.  “What does it matter!” she said to herself, with a reckless laugh; “I am equally worthless in my own estimation, whichever I put on.”  She shuddered, as if the sound of her own laughter had startled her, and abruptly caught up the dress which lay nearest to her hand.  Its colors were blue and white—­the shade of blue which best suited her fair complexion.  She hurriedly put on the gown, without going near her looking-glass.  For the first time in her life she shrank from meeting the reflection of herself—­except for a moment, when she arranged her hair under her garden-hat, leaving the glass again immediately.  She drew her scarf over her shoulders and fitted on her gloves, with her back to the toilet-table.  “Shall I paint?” she asked herself, feeling instinctively that she was turning pale.  “The rouge is still left in my box.  It can’t make my face more false than it is already.”  She looked round toward the glass, and again turned away from it.  “No!” she said.  “I have Mrs. Lecount to face as well as her master.  No paint.”  After consulting her watch, she left the room and went downstairs again.  It wanted ten minutes only of two o’clock.

Captain Wragge was waiting for her in the parlor—­respectable, in a frock-coat, a stiff summer cravat, and a high white hat; specklessly and cheerfully rural, in a buff waistcoat, gray trousers, and gaiters to match.  His collars were higher than ever, and he carried a brand-new camp-stool in his hand.  Any tradesman in England who had seen him at that moment would have trusted him on the spot.

“Charming!” said the captain, paternally surveying Magdalen when she entered the room.  “So fresh and cool!  A little too pale, my dear, and a great deal too serious.  Otherwise perfect.  Try if you can smile.”

“When the time comes for smiling,” said Magdalen, bitterly, “trust my dramatic training for any change of face that may be necessary.  Where is Mrs. Wragge?”

“Mrs. Wragge has learned her lesson,” replied the captain, “and is rewarded by my permission to sit at work in her own room.  I sanction her new fancy for dressmaking, because it is sure to absorb all her attention, and to keep her at home.  There is no fear of her finishing the Oriental Robe in a hurry, for there is no mistake in the process of making it which she is not certain to commit.  She will sit incubating her gown—­pardon the expression—­like a hen over an addled egg.  I assure you, her new whim relieves me.  Nothing could be more convenient, under existing circumstances.”

He strutted away to the window, looked out, and beckoned to Magdalen to join him.  “There they are!” he said, and pointed to the Parade.