" ...
"At the time of which I am now speaking, Miss Trewbody was a maiden
lady of forty-seven in the highest state of preservation. The whole
business of her life had been to take care of a fine person, and in
this she had succeeded admirably. Her library consisted of two
books; 'Nelson's Festivals and Fasts' was one, the other was the
'Queen's Cabinet Unlocked;' and there was not a cosmetic in the
latter which she had not faithfully prepared. Thus by means, as she
believed, of distilled waters of various kinds, maydew and
buttermilk, her skin retained its beautiful texture still and much
of its smoothness, and she knew at times how to give it the
appearance of that brilliancy which it had lost. But that was a
profound secret. Miss Trewbody, remembering the example of Jezebel,
always felt conscious that she had committed a sin when she took
the rouge-box in her hand, and generally ejaculated in a low voice
'The Lord forgive me!' when she laid it down; but looking in the
glass at the same time she indulged a hope that the nature of the
temptation might be considered an excuse for the transgression. Her
other great business was to observe with the utmost precision all
the punctilios of her situation in life, and the time which was not
devoted to one or other of these worthy occupations was employed in
scolding her servants and tormenting her niece.
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