i welcomed a perfectly-rendered
measure.

When studying for his degree in Paris, the doctor had followed a
course of chemistry under Rouelle, and had gathered some ideas which he
afterwards put to use in the chemistry of cooking. His memory is famous
in Issoudun for certain improvements little known outside of Berry. It
was he who discovered that an omelette is far more delicate when the
whites and the yolks are not beaten together with the violence which
cooks usually put into the operation. He considered that the whites
should be beaten to a froth and the yolks gently added by degrees;
moreover a frying-pan should never be used, but a "cagnard" of porcelain
or earthenware. The "cagnard" is a species of thick dish standing on
four feet, so that when it is placed on the stove the air circulates
underneath and prevents the fire from cracking it. In Touraine the
"cagnard" is called a "cauquemarre." Rabelais, I think, speaks of a
"cauquemarre" for cooking cockatrice eggs, thus proving the antiquity of
the utensil. The doctor had also found a way to prevent the tartness
of browned butter; but his secret, which unluckily he kept to his own
kitchen, has been lost.

Flore, a born fryer and roaster, two qualities that can never be
acquired by observation nor yet by labor, soon surpassed Fanchette. In
making herself a cordon-bleu she was thinking of Jean-Jacques's comfort;
though she was, it must be owned, tolerably dainty. Incapable, like all
persons without education, of doing anything with her brains, she spent
her activity upon household matters. She rubbed up the furniture till
it shone, and kept everything about the house in a state of cleanliness
worthy of Holland. She managed the avalanches of soiled linen and the
floods of water that go by the name of "the wash," which was done,
according to provincial usage, three times a year. She kept a
housewifely eye to the linen, and mended it carefully. Then, desirous
of learning little by little the secret of the family property, she
acquired the very limited business knowledge which Rouget possessed,
and increased it by conversations with the notary of the late doctor,
Monsieur Heron. Thus instructed, she gave excellent advice to her
little Jean-Jacques. Sure of being always mistress, she was as eager and
solicitous about the old bachelor's interests as if they had been her
own. She was not obliged to guard against the exactions of her uncle,
for two months before the doctor'