University of Virginia Library

3. III.
THE DOLL.

She is hardly able to walk—she already totters
under the weight of a doll.

It is a charming and elegant affair. It has pink
cheeks and purple-black hair. She prefers brunettes,
for she has already, with the quick knowledge
of a French infant, perceived she is a blonde and
that her doll cannot rival her. Mon Dieu, how
touching! Happy child! She spends hours in preparing
its toilette. She begins to show her taste in
the exquisite details of its dress. She loves it madly,
devotedly. She will prefer it to bonbons. She already
anticipates the wealth of love she will hereafter
pour out on her lover, her mother, her father,
and finally perhaps her husband.

This is the time the anxious parent will guide
these first outpourings. She will read her extracts
from Michelet's L'Amour, Rousseau's Héloise, and the
Revue des deux Mondes.