,
out of the kindness of her good heart, in visiting in time of sickness
the small sister of the bath-boy (a profession which you do not have in
England)----

"That shows my knowledge of their customs, you see," the reader could
not refrain from interpolating; then she continued with a flourish--

"and the daughter of a worthy _blanchisseuse_, who is in every respect
very clean and orderly, therefore we thought to be trusted with the
presence of your daughter, but whom, in the future, we will urge the
advisability of leaving unvisited."

Mademoiselle paused a moment for breath, for the sentence was a long
one, and she had rolled it out with enjoyment. "Of course," she said
to her sister, "I have not yet visited the house of this
_blanchisseuse_, but I inquired if it was clean, and, would not have
allowed the girl to go if the report had not been favourable; but to
continue--

"Your daughter, in the excellence of her heart, would not, perhaps,
desire to rouse your anxieties by mentioning her indisposition, but we
felt it incumbent upon us, in whose charge she lies, to inform her
relatives, and, above all, her devoted mother.

"With affectuous regards,
"Yours respectably,
"THERESE LOIRE."

"There!" exclaimed the writer in conclusion. "Do you not think that is
a fine letter?"

Her sister shrugged her shoulders.

"Probably it is, but you forget I cannot understand English. But pray
do not trouble to translate it," she added hastily; "I quite believe it
is all that you say."

"Yes, you may believe that," and Mademoiselle Therese closed the
envelope. "I think it will make an impression."

In that belief she was perfectly right, and perhaps it was a fortunate
thing that Aunt Anne was there to help to remove the impression; for,
that lady having already had Denys Morton's letter, was prepared for
this one, and was glad she had been able to tell the news in her own
way to her sister-in-law the day before.

"Don't look so scared, Lucy," she said. "I don't suppose there is
anything much amiss, though I shall just pack up and go at once. What
an irritating woman this must be--quite enough to make any one ill if
she talks as she writes."

With characteristic promptitude Miss Britton began to make her
preparations immediately, and only halted over them once, and that was
when she hesitated about packing a dress that had just come home, which
she said was ridiculously young for her.

"It will