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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: Chance never exerted itself to make wiser preparations than those
which opened the way to a meeting between d'Arthez and Madame de
Cadignan. The princess is still considered one of the chief
authorities on dress, which, to women, is the first of arts. On this
occasion she wore a gown of blue velvet with flowing white sleeves,
and a tulle guimpe, slightly frilled and edged with blue, covering the
shoulders, and rising nearly to the throat, as we see in several of
Raffaele's portraits. Her maid had dressed her hair with white
heather, adroitly placed among its blond cascades, which were one of
the great beauties to which she owed her celebrity.
Certainly Diane did not look to be more than twenty-five years old.
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