But he 's dead -- and one should n't speak ill of the dead . I must go and get Mattie Penhallow to do my hair . I would burst these sleeves clean out if I tried to do it myself and I do n't want to dress over again . You wo n't be likely to talk to Romney about Lucinda again , my dear Cecilia ? '' `` Fifteen years ! '' murmured Mrs. George helplessly to the dahlias . `` Engaged for fifteen years and never speaking to each other ! Dear heart and soul , think of it ! Oh , these Penhallows ! '' Meanwhile , Lucinda , serenely unconscious that her love story was being mouthed over by Mrs. Frederick in the dahlia garden , was dressing for the wedding . Lucinda still enjoyed dressing for a festivity , since the mirror still dealt gently with her . Moreover , she had a new dress . Now , a new dress -- and especially one as nice as this -- was a rarity with Lucinda , who belonged to a branch of the Penhallows noted for being chronically hard up . Indeed , Lucinda and her widowed mother were positively poor , and hence a new dress was an event in Lucinda 's existence . An uncle had given her this one -- a beautiful , perishable thing , such as Lucinda would never have dared to choose for herself , but in which she revelled with feminine delight . It was of pale green voile -- a colour which brought out admirably the ruddy gloss of her hair and the clear brilliance of her skin . When she had finished dressing she looked at herself in the mirror with frank delight . Lucinda was not vain , but she was quite well aware of the fact of her beauty and took an impersonal pleasure in it , as if she were looking at some finely painted picture by a master hand . The form and face reflected in the glass satisfied her . The puffs and draperies of the green voile displayed to perfection the full , but not over-full , curves of her fine figure .
Lucinda lifted her arm and touched a red rose to her lips with the hand upon which shone the frosty glitter of Romney 's diamond , looking at the graceful slope XXXXX her shoulder and the splendid line of chin and throat with critical approval .
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