 the aisle, composed and tranquil, as I am always, four
ladies, and as many gentlemen, laughed and hid their faces behind their
prayer-books.«
    »Well, well! don't put on the sabots again. I told you before I thought they
were not quite the thing for this country.«
    »But, brother, they are not common sabots, such as the peasantry wear. I
tell you, they are sabots noirs, très propres, très convenables. At Mons and
Leuze - cities not very far removed from the elegant capital of Brussels - it is
very seldom that the respectable people wear anything else for walking in
winter. Let any one try to wade the mud of the Flemish chaussées in a pair of
Paris brodequins, on m'en dirait des nouvelles!«
    »Never mind Mons and Leuze, and the Flemish chaussées; do at Rome as the
Romans do; and as to the camisole and jupon, I am not quite sure about them
either. I never see an English lady dressed in such garments. Ask Caroline
Helstone.«
    »Caroline! I ask Caroline? I consult her about my dress? It is she who on
all points should consult me; she is a child.«
    »She is eighteen, or at the least seventeen; old enough to know all about
gowns, petticoats, and chaussures.«
    »Do not spoil Caroline, I entreat you, brother; do not make her of more
consequence than she ought to be. At present she is modest and unassuming: let
us keep her so.«
    »With all my heart. Is she coming this morning?«
    »She will come at ten, as usual, to take her French lesson.«
    »You don't find that she sneers at you, do you?«
    »She does not, she appreciates me better than any one else here; but then
she has more intimate opportunities of knowing me: she sees that I have
education, intelligence, manner, principles; all, in short, which belongs to a
person well born and well bred.«
    »Are you at all fond of her?«
    »For fond - I cannot say: I am not one who is prone to take violent fancies,
and, consequently, my friendship is the more to be depended on. I have a regard
for her as my relative; her position also inspires interest, and her conduct as
my pupil has hitherto been such as rather to enhance than diminish the
attachment that springs from other causes.«
    »She behaves pretty well at lessons?
