The dressmaker had brought with her an assistant and a large number of boxes.
The Earl had been sitting alone for a few minutes reading the newspaper when the door opened and Lynetta came into the room.
He saw at once that she looked very different in one of the new gowns.
The style had been introduced to France by Madame Bonaparte herself and it had just reached England.
It was in the previous year, the Earl was to learn, that Josephine Bonaparte had started wearing opaque materials. They were cut in a most original way which within a few months was to become the fashion.
Her gowns had high waists, short and puffed sleeves, the tight skirts falling straight and moulding the figure without stressing it.
It was certainly, the Earl thought, as he looked at Lynetta, a fashion that becam
