"
There was a flourish. A quadrille was about to begin, and the crowd
flowed back to the sides of the drawing room in order to leave the floor
clear. Bright dresses flitted by and mingled together amid the dark
evening coats, while the intense light set jewels flashing and white
plumes quivering and lilacs and roses gleaming and flowering amid the
sea of many heads. It was already very warm, and a penetrating perfume
was exhaled from light tulles and crumpled silks and satins, from which
bare shoulders glimmered white, while the orchestra played its lively
airs. Through open doors ranges of seated ladies were visible in the
background of adjoining rooms; they flashed a discreet smile; their eyes
glowed, and they made pretty mouths as the breath of their fans caressed
their faces. And guests still kept arriving, and a footman announced
their names while gentlemen advanced slowly amid the surrounding groups,
striving to find places for ladies, who hung with difficulty on their
arms, and stretching forward in quest of some far-off vacant armchair.
The house kept filling, and crinolined skirts got jammed together with
a little rustling sound. There were corners where an amalgam of laces,
bunches and puffs would completely bar the way, while all the other
ladies stood waiting, politely resigned and imperturbably graceful,
as became people who were made to take part in these dazzling crushes.
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