“One of the——?” “Old children. One of the alumnæ of St. Susanna’s,” she elucidated, laughing at his bewildered look. “That’s what the nuns call them, ‘the old children.’ And every year this countess takes the graduates and goes with them to buy suitable clothes—that is, if there aren’t fathers and mothers to do it for them,” added Gabrielle. “So she took me, the darling! We all know her quite well, and the last year one may go to her Sunday afternoon teas four or five times,” explained the girl, seriously. “That is, if you’ve no devoirs.” “Devoirs?” “Penances. Punishments to write for breaking rules,” she said. “I feel dense. Devoirs, of course,” said David, diverted. “Tell me more of this. If you had no devoirs you might go to tea with the countess?” [40]“So that we might comport ourselves becomingly in society,” agreed Gabrielle. “And then, two weeks before we left for Cherbourg, she took me into the city, and bought me—oh, lovely things! A velvet dress; I wore that once on the boat. And a lovely brown lace dress, and a hat, and a suit, and three blouses. But we had to travel in our uniforms, of course. ‘Religious in habit. Students in uniform.’ That’s the rule.” [40] David was finding this extremely amusing and interesting. Through the medium of such engaging youth and freshness, such simplicity and eagerness, almost anything would have been somewhat so. But this glimpse of girlhood managed so decorously by rule was new to him, and it contrasted oddly with—well, for example, with Sylvia’s breezy independence and that of all the other young women he knew. “Did you—did any of the girls really like it, Gabrielle?” “Did——?” The wonderful eyes widened and were more wonderful than ever. “But we all loved it!” she exclaimed. “We had—fun. The gardens were perfectly beautiful, and on Sundays there was always a sweet, and often on Thursdays! Or some girl’s father would send her a great box of chocolates.” “You were in Normandy when I was in Paris,” David said, wondering if he would have thought to send a box of chocolates to St. Susanna’s if she had been there. “Normandy! Isn’t it—but you don’t know it!” she said. “It’s heavenly. We have such a cunning little place there; it was a sort of gate-lodge once, and of course we had the sea!—it
Prev.
Back
Top