Dolores obeyed, and stood still, holding her breath a little in her intense excitement.  It seemed impossible that Inez could do all she promised without making a mistake, and Dolores would not have been a woman had she not been visited just then by visions of ridicule.  Without light she was utterly helpless to do anything for herself, and she had never before then fully realized the enormous misfortune with which her sister had to contend.  She had not guessed, either, what energy and quickness of thought Inez possessed, and the sensation of being advised, guided, and helped by one she had always herself helped and protected was new.

They spoke in quick whispers of what she was to wear and of how her hair was to be dressed, and Inez found what was wanted without noise, and almost as quickly as Dolores could have done in broad daylight, and placed a chair for her, making her sit down in it, and began to arrange her hair quickly and skilfully.  Dolores felt the spiritlike hands touching her lightly and deftly in the dark—­they were very slight and soft, and did not offend her with a rough movement or a wrong turn, as her maid’s sometimes did.  She felt her golden hair undone, and swiftly drawn out and smoothed without catching, or tangling, or hurting her at all, in a way no woman had ever combed it, and the invisible hands gently divided it, and turned it upon her head, slipping the hairpins into the right places as if by magic, so that they were firm at the first trial, and there was a faint sound of little pearls tapping each other, and Dolores felt the small string laid upon her hair and fastened in its place,—­the only ornament a young girl could wear for a headdress,—­and presently it was finished, and Inez gave a sigh of satisfaction at her work, and lightly felt her sister’s head here and there to be sure that all was right.  It felt as if soft little birds were just touching the hair with the tips of their wings as they fluttered round it.  Dolores had no longer any fear of looking ill dressed in the blaze of light she was to face before long.  The dressing of her hair was the most troublesome part, she knew, and though she could not have done it herself, she had felt that every touch and turn had been perfectly skilful.

“What a wonderful creature you are!” she whispered, as Inez bade her stand up.

“You have beautiful hair,” answered the blind girl, “and you are beautiful in other ways, but to-night you must be the most beautiful of all the court, for his sake—­so that every woman may envy you, and every man envy him, when they see you talking together.  And now we must be quick, for it has taken a long time, and I hear the soldiers marching out again to form in the square.  That is always just an hour and a half before the King goes into the hall.  Here—­this is the front of the skirt.”

“No—­it is the back!”

Inez laughed softly, a whispering laugh that Dolores could scarcely hear.