I nodded, and he guided me through several dim
passages to a parlour with an open door, through which the sun
shone gaily on the floor. Cheered by the morning air and this
sudden change to pleasantness and life, I stepped lightly out.
The two ladies were walking up and down a wide path which
bisected the garden. The weeds grew rankly in the gravel
underfoot, the rose bushes which bordered the walk thrust their
branches here and there in untrained freedom, a dark yew hedge
which formed the background bristled with rough shoots and sadly
needed trimming. But I did not see any of these things. The
grace, the noble air, the distinction of the two women who paced
slowly to meet me--and who shared all these qualities, greatly as
they differed in others--left me no power to notice trifles.
Mademoiselle was a head shorter than her BELLE-SOEUR--a slender
woman and petite, with a beautiful face and a fair complexion; a
woman wholly womanly. She walked with dignity, but beside
Madame's stately figure she had an air almost childish. And it
was characteristic of the two that Mademoiselle as they drew near
to me regarded me with sorrowful attention, Madame with a grave
smile.
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