Transcriber’s Note:
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.
The last notes of the bell which duly summonedto their tasks the pupils of MadameDuvant’s fashionable seminary had ceased,and in the school room, recently so silent,was heard the low hum of voices, interspersedoccasionally with a suppressed titter fromsome girl more mischievous than her companions.Very complacently Madame Duvantlooked over the group of young faces,mentally estimating the probable gain sheshould receive from each, for this was thefirst day of the term; then with a few, low spokenwords to the row of careworn, pale-facedteachers, she smoothed down the foldsof her heavy grey satin and left the room,just as a handsome travelling carriage stoppedbefore the door.
The new arrival proved to be a fashionably-dressedwoman, who, with an air of extremehauteur, swept into the parlour, followedby two young girls, one apparently sixteenand the other fourteen years of age. Theyounger and, as some would call her, theplainer looking of the two, was unmistakablya ‘poor relation,’ for her face bore the meek,patient look of a dependent, while the proudblack eyes and scornfully curved lip of theother marked her as the daughter of thelady, who, after glancing about the roomand satisfying herself that the chairs, tables,and so forth, were refined, gave her name as‘Mrs. Greenleaf, wife of the Hon. Mr. Greenleaf,of Herkimer Co., N. Y.’
‘I have come,’ said she, apparently speakingto Madame Duvant, but looking straightat the window, ‘I’ve come to place mydaughter Arabella under your charge, and ifshe is pleased with your discipline, she willfinish her education here—graduate—thoughI care but little for that, except that itsounds well. She is our only child, and, ofcourse, a thorough education in the lowerEnglish branches is not at all necessary. Iwish her to be highly accomplished inFrench, Italian, music, drawing, painting,dancing, and, perhaps, learn something ofthe old poets, so as to be able to talk aboutthem a little, if necessary, but as for t