" Yet
there were vestiges about him of an originally fair complexion. His
wrists and temples were white as those of a woman. His face was long,
lank, and cadaverous; his eyes shone with a clear, amber, and steady
light, and had an abstracted expression usually, accompanied with a not
unfrequent and most peculiar warp of the pupils.
His hair was singularly shaggy and picturesque in its tawny grayness,
and wavy, wiry length. Above his eyes his heavy brows of the same
texture and color seemed to make a pent-house, from which the high, pale
brow receded gradually; his profile was aquiline to absolute
grotesqueness. The idea of "Punchinello" presented itself irresistibly
at the sight of his parrot-like nose and suddenly-upturned chin.
His gait was as peculiar as his countenance and manner; he glided, in
walking, carrying himself erectly, with his arms closely pinioned to his
sides. He was altogether so extraordinary looking that I felt myself
staring almost rudely at him on our first interview; yet his dress was
in no way remarkable except for an air of old-fashioned and speckless
neatness.
Madame La Vigne was a pretty and well-preserved woman, of about
thirty-five, a fair brunette, originally, to whom most of her daughters
bore a close resemblance. One alone, the plainest of the band,
presenting a resemblance, most unfortunately for her, of "Colonel La
Vigne," as his wife called him, with scrupulous punctilio.
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