"
He kissed her. "You want me to issue a command about the affair?" he
said half laughingly.
She smiled up into his eyes. "Yes!--and I will obey!"
"Very well! Now listen!" and he held her by both hands, and looked with
sudden gravity into her sweet face--"Thelma, my wife, thus sayeth your
lord and master,--despise the vulgar indecencies of fashion, and you
will gratify me more than words can say;--keep your pure and beautiful
self sacred from the profaning gaze of the multitude,--sacred to me and
my love for you, and I shall be the proudest man living! Finally,"--and
he smiled again--"give Rosine back this effort at a bodice, and tell her
to make something more in keeping with the laws of health and modesty.
And Thelma--one more kiss! You are a darling!"
She laughed softly and left him, returning at once to the irate
dressmaker who waited for her.
"I am sorry," she said very sweetly, "to have called you wicked! You
see, I did not understand! But though this style of dress is
fashionable, I do not wish to wear it--so you will please make me
another bodice, with a small open square at the throat, and
elbow-sleeves,--and you will lose nothing at all--for I shall pay you
for this one just the same.
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