More
than this--Signor Barbone (_proh pudor!_) had suggested that she should
fortify herself with such sums of money as she might be able to get
together without exciting suspicion.
Strange as you may think, Belle was possessed of so little delicacy,
that she actually entered into the spirit of the enterprise--regarding
the affair as a capital joke, enabling her to hold out against papa
should he prove obstinate, as he might for a few days (it could only be
for a few days), and inclined to be severe.
What with all her jewels, including some recent expensive purchases,
made for the first time in her life without payment on the spot (this
also at the suggestion of the Signor), and with sums quietly got
together for several weeks, including some considerable amounts coaxed
from her father on various pretences, and a pretty large sum borrowed
over night from mamma--I say, with all this, the 'happy pair' were
pretty well fortified for their first campaign.
The trying moment arrived.
Mrs. Caruthers, of course, knew nothing of Belle's tale to her mother,
that she was to pass the night at her house. She simply expected Belle
to grace her party.
Quite early in the day the young lady ordered a handsome ball dress
placed in a box, and directed it to be taken to her dressmaker, to
receive some trifling alterations before evening.
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