Fortunately I had had the advantage of being taught French by aFrench lady; and as I had always made a point of conversing withMadame Pierrot as often as I could, and had besides, during the lastseven years, learnt a portion of French by heart daily- applyingmyself to take pains with my accent, and imitating as closely aspossible the pronunciation of my teacher, I had acquired a certaindegree of readiness and correctness in the language, and was notlikely to be much at a loss with Mademoiselle Adela. She came andshook hands with me when she heard that I was her governess; and asI led her in to breakfast, I addressed some phrases to her in herown tongue: she replied briefly at first, but after we were seatedat the table, and she had examined me some ten minutes with herlarge hazel eyes, she suddenly commenced chattering fluently.