114 EUGENIE AND LEONCE

 

and about it showed the noble simplicity of its ancient
masters. It was in this old-fashioned dwelling that
Eugenie (this is the name of Madame Palmene’s
daughter) passed the early years of her life, and here
she acquired a great taste for the natural amusements
of a retired country life. During the genial spring
and summer months she took long walks with her
mother. When the days were too hot they would
choose the evening for their exercise, and used often
to go to a forest, where they rested in the shade and
breathed the fresh air. She had for a play-compan-
ion the daughter of her governess. ‘This girl’s name
was Valentine. She was four years older than
Eugenie, and was a very good-hearted. and talented
child. She took all her lessons with Eugenie, and
had such a winning manner that her young mistress
looked on her, and with reason, as a friend.

Eugenie was now in her sixteenth year, and was a
gay, lively girl, with a well-trained and cultivated mind
and an equable disposition.

In order to finish Eugenie’s education, her mother
determined on taking her to Paris; and so she left
her agreeable solitude about the end of September,
and went to the capital, where she rented a small
villa; Madame Palmene found a great many of her