her bosom, covered it with kisses, and in a broken voice begged for his
forgiveness.

A father's heart must surely have been made of stone to have resisted
such an appeal! He forgave her, of course, and a coach was immediately
sent for in which to convey her home. Let the world say what it liked,
blood is stronger than water; a father cannot slay his offspring for the
sake of a little tripping!

And besides, as a matter of fact, there was not the slightest reason why
he should punish her so severely, for that very same day he received a
letter (it was brought to the house by a liveried servant), which the
nobleman so frequently alluded to wrote him with his own hand, and in
which he expressed his grief that his innocent, well-meaning advances
should have occasioned such a misunderstanding. He declared, moreover,
that he regarded the whole family with the greatest respect, and as to
his intercourse with Matilda, it was simply dictated by his enthusiasm
for art. Nay, he was prepared, if necessary, to furnish the most
incontestible proofs, under his own hand and seal, that the young lady's
virtue was fenced about by absolutely impregnable bulwarks.

Ah! an honest, honourable gentleman, indeed!

"Well, that's all right," said Mr. Meyer, whom this letter perfectly
satisfied--"quite another sort of thing, in fact. But, at any rate, he
ought not to try and make Matilda go out with him, or try and see her
behind the scenes. That might so easily compromise her. If his
intentions are honourable, let him come to the house."

Imbecile, to give bread to the rats that they might not disturb him in
the night-time, instead of keeping a cat!

Naturally, in a couple of days, Matilda was as rosy as an apple just
plucked from the tree, and her squire now came to the house to visit her
quite nicely. In a few months' time he departed, and after him came a
young banker, and then another squire, and a third and a fourth, and
goodness knows how many more. And all of them were great votaries of
art, worthy respectable gentlemen every one of them, who were never
known to utter an improper word, who kissed mamma's hand, and talked on
sensible topics with papa, and bowed as decorously to the girls as if
they were young countesses at the very least. And among them were such
merry, amusing young fellows, who would make one die of laughter with
their jokes, and teased mamma by going into the kitchen and tasting the
dishes, and pocketing the pan