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Whether the rouge was of a bad sort, or somehow had been

accidentally scratched upon her face, at all events, here and

there it was thin, and revealed beneath it a coarser complexion.

Perhaps Thaddeus himself, in the Temple of Meditation, speaking

too near her, had brushed from its white foundation the carmine,

lighter than the dust of a butterfly's wing. Telimena had come

back from the wood in too much of a hurry, and had not had time

to repair her colouring; around her mouth, in particular,

freckles could be seen. So the eyes of Thaddeus, like cunning

spies, having discovered one piece of treason, began to explore

one after another her remaining charms, and everywhere discovered

some falsity. Two teeth were missing in her mouth; on her brow

and temples there were wrinkles; thousands of wrinkles were

concealed beneath her chin.