lace while
the carriages would go and await them in the village square. It was a
delightful walk, and the company agreed to the proposition.

"Lord love me, Irma knows how to take care of herself!" said Gaga,
halting before a gate at the corner of the park wall abutting on the
highroad.

All of them stood silently gazing at the enormous bush which stopped up
the gateway. Then following the little path, they skirted the park wall,
looking up from time to time to admire the trees, whose lofty branches
stretched out over them and formed a dense vault of greenery. After
three minutes or so they found themselves in front of a second gate.
Through this a wide lawn was visible, over which two venerable oaks
cast dark masses of shadow. Three minutes farther on yet another gate
afforded them an extensive view of a great avenue, a perfect corridor
of shadow, at the end of which a bright spot of sunlight gleamed like
a star. They stood in silent, wondering admiration, and then little by
little exclamations burst from their lips. They had been trying hard to
joke about it all with a touch of envy at heart, but this decidedly and
immeasurably impressed them. What a genius that Irma was! A sight like
this gave you a rattling notion of the woman! The trees stretched away
and away, and there were endlessly recurrent patches of ivy along the
wall with glimpses of lofty roofs and screens of poplars interspersed
with dense masses of elms and aspens. Was there no end to it then? The
ladies would have liked to catch sight of the mansion house, for they
were weary of circling on and on, weary of seeing nothing but leafy
recesses through every opening they came to. They took the rails of the
gate in their hands and pressed their faces against the ironwork. And
thus excluded and isolated, a feeling of respect began to overcome them
as they thought of the castle lost to view in surrounding immensity.
Soon, being quite unused to walking, they grew tired. And the wall did
not leave off; at every turn of the small deserted path the same range
of gray stones stretched ahead of them. Some of them began to despair
of ever getting to the end of it and began talking of returning. But the
more their long walk fatigued them, the more respectful they became,
for at each successive step they were increasingly impressed by the
tranquil, lordly dignity of the domain.

"It's getting silly, this is!" said Caroline Hequet, grinding her teeth.

Nana silenced