at her.

Anna Campbell is at the present time just seventeen. She is neither
short nor tall, thin nor stout--although the great blue ribbon which she
wears over her neck, with a cross suspended from it, already sets off
the plump outlines of her bosom. She is neither fair nor dark; her chin
is round, her face oval, her nose, mouth, and forehead are all
medium-sized, and she has rather pretty blue eyes. Generally speaking,
she is more pleasant-looking than handsome, and her features on the
whole suggest a very gentle disposition united with good health. My
uncle took care to impress upon me that she will continue to develop,
since her feet and hands are still large for her age, and promise a
handsome completion of her growth.

In short, my lot is far from a disagreeable one--quite the contrary. As
my uncle expresses it, "All the symptoms are good."

Our dinner was a very lively one. Anna Campbell, although rather subdued
in my presence, did not show any embarrassment. Nothing seemed to be new
to her; her manners and deportment, and everything about her, revealed
the familiar assurance of a child of the family who had come to take a
holiday there, and felt herself as much at home as I did. I perceived
that she knew the house as well as if she had been brought up in it, and
I learnt that during the time when I was at college she and Madame
Saulnier had really lived there for three years.

The result of all this was that Anna Campbell exhibited a pleasant sort
of familiarity with my aunt and uncle which I did not at all expect to
see. Brought up away from each other, and without any previous
acquaintance, we were now meeting for the first time at this common
centre of our affections, which, unknown to us, had united us since our
childhood. This was both original and sweet to think of.

Once, when my uncle asked for the pickles, Anna said:

"They are near Andre."

When the meal was over we left the dining-room. Following a Russian
fashion which my aunt had introduced among us, when we entered the
drawing-room, I pressed her hand to my lips, while she kissed me on the
forehead. Anna did the same; then, without even appearing to think what
she was doing, she quietly held up her two cheeks for me to kiss, and
afterwards offered them to her godfather. She then ran to the piano, and
sat down to it, while we were taking our coffee.

"Well, what do you think of her?" my uncle asked me.

"She is very nice," I replied.