OF THE FOREST. 27

moiselle ; the blame was laid on Aimée, and
on the bare suspicion, Mademoiselle punished
her severely ; neither would she remit her
punishment till Madame interfered ; it was
found afterwards that Aimée was innocent, but
Mademoiselle never pardoned her.

TI had observed, as I have before remarked,
that since the arrival of Mademoiselle Vic-
toire, the simple, cheerful spirit which had
formerly animated the family of Madame
Bulé had disappeared; and instead of the
lively games in which the pupils of all ages
had hitherto engaged, f could see from my
window that there were parties formed in the
young society. It was very evident that
there was an open rivalry established between
the rose and the fleur de lis (by the by, a
rivalry of old and renowned establishment) ;
also, I could perceive that there were few of
the young people who did not enlist them
selves under one or other of these banners,
and I could sometimes hear words running
very high amongst individuals of the different
parties, though I could not exactly understand
the precise subject of these controversies.

At length, however, it happened, as I was