I'll see her, my dear; where is she? Come,
let us visit Madame. I should so like to talk to her a little.'
'But she is ill,' I answered, and all this time I was ready to cry for
vexation, thinking of my dress, which must be very absurd to elicit so much
unaffected laughter from my experienced relative, and I was only longing to
get away and hide myself before that handsome Captain returned.
'Ill! is she? what's the matter?'
'A cold--feverish and rheumatic, she says.'
'Oh, a cold; is she up, or in bed?'
'In her room, but not in bed.'
'I should so like to see her, my dear. It is not mere curiosity, I assure
you. In fact, curiosity has nothing on earth to do with it. A governess may
be a very useful or a very useless person; but she may also be about the
most pernicious inmate imaginable. She may teach you a bad accent, and
worse manners, and heaven knows what beside. Send the housekeeper, my dear,
to tell her that I am going to see her.'
'I had better go myself, perhaps,' I said, fearing a collision between Mrs.
Rusk and the bitter Frenchwoman.
'Very well, dear.'
And away I ran, not sorry somehow to escape before Captain Oakley returned.
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