The one undeniable good quality which raised Demoiselle Grifoni
above all her rivals in the trade was her inexhaustible
fortitude. She was never known to yield an inch under any
pressure of adverse circumstances Thus the memorable occasion of
her life on which she was threatened with ruin was also the
occasion on which she most triumphantly asserted the energy and
decision of her character. At the height of the demoiselle's
prosperity her skilled forewoman and cutter-out basely married
and started in business as her rival. Such a calamity as this
would have ruined an ordinary milliner; but the invincible
Grifoni rose superior to it almost without an effort, and proved
incontestably that it was impossible for hostile Fortune to catch
her at the end of her resources. While the minor milliners were
prophesying that she would shut up shop, she was quietly carrying
on a private correspondence with an agent in Paris. Nobody knew
what these letters were about until a few weeks had elapsed, and
then circulars were received by all the ladies in Pisa,
announcing that the best French forewoman who could be got for
money was engaged to superintend the great Grifoni establishment.
This master-stroke decided the victory. All the demoiselle's
customers declined giving orders elsewhere until the forewoman
from Paris had exhibited to the natives of Pisa the latest
fashions from the metropolis of the world of dress.
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