her—in the simplest of white muslin frocks with a faintly tinted lilac sash and neck ribbon. Over her shoulders is a lace fichu reaching in long ends to her feet. You forget for an instant about wooden joints and painted cheeks; and, peering beneath her coal-scuttle bonnet, look eagerly for the fair and serious face that goes along with this Puritan maiden. What a bewitching thing this poke bonnet is, too, of rich yellow straw, trimmed with an artist's eye for colour, in severe lines of purple ribbon tying under the demure chin! Was Miss Arnold's name Priscilla or Dorothy, and were all the young dandies sighing for this charming lady, and did she get love-letters and verses about broken hearts and Cupid by the score?
How absurd it seems that such an idea should be evoked by a common twopenny Dutch doll, and how some people will scoff; but I declare that there is something not easily definable about this young creature which would touch the least sentimental of persons.
There are, as we have seen, several little tables and chairs covered in silk and chintz, and some fascinating tiny bead trinkets and little crystal tea services of the kind sold in boxes some twenty years ago, but which are very difficult to procure nowadays. One of these services, set out upon a tiny table, is here represented. The two ladies who are standing at the table are Madame Proche Brocard as she appeared in the ballet of "Kenilworth" in 1831-33; and Madame Zephyrine Galebstie (38).
A cradle of twins (86).
This, I think, ends my pleasant task, though a word of mention must be made of a small white satin cradle, made from a cardboard box, containing another set of twins, perhaps the little Rothesays (86); and of a numerous variety of satin quilts edged with lace, and silk and satin cushions, no doubt used for the drawing-room sofas.
But the best of descriptions could not convey any idea of the rich coloured silks and satins of the robes, or of the cunning needle art which has been expended upon their embellishment, or of the delicate fancy which has been employed with the happiest results. I would that every doll-lover, big and little, could get a glimpse of the charming playthings which made happy the childhood of her who is endeared to her subjects as a good wife, a good mother, and a wise and exemplary ruler.
