gered
about with his cousin in the park, watching the men as they dug the
paths for the English garden, while Madame de Sainfoy and Monsieur
Urbain talked good sense high up in the window.

Presently two figures approached the new garden, crossing the park from
the old avenue, and Monsieur de Sainfoy went to meet them with an air of
cordial welcome.

"Who are those people?" said the Comtesse, putting up her eyeglass.

"It is my brother Joseph and his little daughter," Urbain answered. "He
has his gun, I see, as usual. I suppose he was shooting in this
direction."

"Does he take the child out shooting with him? He is certainly very
eccentric."

Urbain shrugged his shoulders. "Poor dear Joseph! A little, perhaps.
Yes, he is unlike other people. To tell you the truth, I am only too
glad when his odd fancies spend themselves on the management of
Henriette."

"Or mis-management! He will ruin the child. He brought her here the
other day, and she appeared to me quite savage."

"Really, madame! Poor Henriette! She is a sociable child and clever,
too. My wife and Angelot are very fond of her. I think she must have
been shy in your presence."

"Oh, not at all. She talked to Herve like a grown-up woman. I was
amused. When I say 'savage,' I mean that she had evidently been in no
society, and had not the faintest idea how a young person of her age is
expected to behave. She was far more at her ease than Helene, for
instance."

"Ah, dear madame! there is something pleasing, is there not, in such a
frank trust in human nature! The child is very like her father."

"Those manners may be pretty in a child of six," said Madame de Sainfoy,
"but they are quite out of place in a girl of her age--how old is she?"

"I don't exactly know. Twelve or thirteen, I think."

"Then there is still some hope for her. She may be polished into shape.
I shall suggest to your brother that she come here every day to take
lessons with Sophie and Lucie. I dare say she is very ignorant."

"I am afraid she is. What a charming idea! How like your kindness! My
brother will certainly accept your offer with enthusiasm. I shall insist
upon it."

"He will, if he is a wise man," said Madame de Sainfoy. They both
laughed: evidently the wisdom of Monsieur Joseph was not proverbial in
the family. "Mademoiselle Moineau is an excellent governess, though she
is growing old," she went on. "I have known her make civilised women out
of the most unpromising ma