I also have my Brussels hat, which has but one fault: it resembles the hat of Mlle de Galve, and I fear and hate imitations. I am anxious again — scarcely at ease about my dresses when I am untranquilla¹ about my hat. I have four and not one, except this black one (and it cannot serve because of the resemblance), pleases me. If I were a married woman I should not be embarrassed for a single second — there are so many hats that please me. But at my age one must combine so many things! The hat must be at once simple and distinguished, and original, and wearable always without tiring, and above all it must suit me!! It is frightful! Dina tried on at Querteux and we were at Laferriere. Despite myself, I have the notion — perhaps I am wrong — that she does not work for us willingly. Monday, she promises. I shall go again Monday. But the thing is I do not want to abandon her. There are moments when I give her the preference; when I look at the grey dress, which is so admirable and full of that je ne sais quoi I cannot name, [Crossed out: th] I am quite moved looking at it and my heart beats. I must also be given credit: I wear clothes admirably well. It is not for me to say, but... I am of medium height; I have [Crossed out: rather fine] pretty hair, a little longer than my waist, silky, golden, and curly. I have a round face, a large white well-shaped forehead that I cover with hair cut like that of Louis XIV as a child, at Versailles, in the painting depicting the death of Louis XIII, on the staircase. Thick dark eyebrows, well drawn and a very little arched; grey eyes, [Crossed out: of medium size, more grey than] neither small nor large, of a suitable shape and often dark in the evening, sometimes bright and always intelligent; eyelashes the same colour as the eyebrows and rather pretty. A nose... a nose... well, it is difficult to describe — a nose neither short nor long, [Crossed out: rather round] round [at the tip the n...] with nostrils a little large, [Crossed out: but wi] a few small freckles on the nose, and pretty skin, which is rare — generally the worst skin is found on the nose. In short, the nose is passable; it could be better, but... [Crossed out: Below the nose to the lip I have a very regular groove;] the mouth is small, rosy (this evening I look as I did before), and very pretty; above all the corners are of an exquisite finish and softness. I have teeth just good enough not to make me ugly; they are neither bad nor misshapen, fairly white — [Crossed out: nor of a dazzling whiteness either] they are small [Crossed out: quite ordinary] passable teeth. There is one thing to say: instead of having four teeth on the upper jaw and then the canines, I have only two and immediately after come the canines. It does not show and concerns only natural history. On the lower jaw all is in order. I have a round chin with a [Crossed out: pretty] pronounced dimple, small ears [Crossed out: (illegible) like two pink shells] pink and pretty. The neck — properly speaking the neck — not long enough for a classical bust, but well enough for a woman, especially when it is followed by beautiful shoulders and a bosom high and white as milk. My body in general is very beautiful; I am very well made, and so arched in the back that they think I wear a bustle — yet I put on absolutely nothing, ever. My feet and my hands are not beautiful from the classical point of view; I have never cared for my hands — they are kept clean and no more. As for my feet, they are free of corns and all those other blemishes that so many people have; Dina, for instance, has classically shaped feet and she has corns. It is so unfortunate; I dare pray to God every evening to preserve me from them. I was forgetting the complexion: I am white and pink, and the skin [Crossed out: on the face] is fine; on the temples one can even see the veins, as well as on each side of the mouth, principally the left. Near the right eye on the temple I have a beauty mark, and another very small one on the left cheek, a little low, on the spot that is velvety. What is this fancy to describe myself? I have been just, as for another person; I was neither indulgent nor falsely severe like certain people who thereby wish to draw compliments. I must add that I walk very well. There is much that is good and pretty in this portrait. On the whole it may not seem so, but in detail, well analysed, it is. I say this because they will say I have flattered myself on account of the too-frequent repetitions of those two words — on the whole, I say, it may very well not appear so, but in detail my portrait is quite exact. I went to say goodbye to Ferry until my next trip to Paris; she announced her sister's wedding and invited me — at the Madeleine. Afterwards we go to Fourmi on the Avenue Marbeuf, a [Crossed out: livery] horse dealer. He has nothing good, but it does me good to go into the stables — I am training myself. Then to Maurice, where there is a magnificent animal, the colour of watery chocolate, eight years old, tall and superb. It is a horse that pleases me, nearly thoroughbred, and its gait is lively and commanding; in all its movements it is noble and majestic. Its colour does not much please me, but its form is admirable. But twelve thousand francs. Oh! Misery II! I run after my hat; Virot promises me several for tomorrow. Before going home we speak with Lucarini and Loge, that great and noble artist! I send my aunt to the deacon to ask him to tell Bauvais to go see this horse at Maurice's tomorrow and give us his opinion afterwards. I am all alone the whole evening; I rather like this, for writing and thinking freely. Basilewsky used to say that he reserves two hours a day, from two to four o'clock, solely for thinking.