"
So saying, the duchess, a woman of medium height, but a little too
stout, like all women over fifty who retain their beauty, rose and
walked toward the group which surrounded Diane de Maufrigneuse,
stepping daintily on little feet that were as slender and nervous as a
deer's. Beneath her plumpness could be seen the exquisite delicacy of
such women, which comes from the vigor of their nervous systems
controlling and vitalizing the development of flesh. There is no other
way to explain the lightness of her step, and the incomparable
nobility of her bearing. None but the women whose quarterings begin
with Noah know, as Eleonore did, how to be majestic in spite of a
buxom tendency. A philosopher might have pitied Philoxene, while
admiring the graceful lines of the bust and the minute care bestowed
upon a morning dress, which was worn with the elegance of a queen and
the easy grace of a young girl. Her abundant hair, still undyed, was
simply wound about her head in plaits; she bared her snowy throat and
shoulders, exquisitely modelled, and her celebrated hand and arm, with
pardonable pride. Modeste, together with all other antagonists of the
duchess, recognized in her a woman of whom they were forced to say,
"She eclipses us.
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