Mademoiselle Leduc looked at me, hesitated, and then put the question to Miss Fenton, her imperfect English sounding through the room. "Dis new young lady, is she to learn de German, madam?" Miss Fenton directed her eyes towards us. "Miss Hereford? Yes. Miss Hereford is to learn everything taught in my establishment." "Oh!" said Nancy Tayler, _sotto voce_. "Are you to be a governess, pray, Miss Hereford?" A moment's hesitation between pride and truth, and then, with a blush of shame in my cheeks _for_ the hesitation, came the brave answer. "I am to be a governess; mamma gave the directions in her will. What fortune she left is to be expended upon my education, and she said there might be no better path of life open to me." "That's candid, at any rate," cried Miss Peacock. And so I began German. We dined at two; and I don't suppose but that every girl was terribly hungry. I know I was. With a scanty eight-o'clock breakfast, children ought not to wait until two for the next meal. We had to dress for dinner, which was laid in Miss Fenton's dining-room, not in the bare place called the refectory; Miss Fenton dining with us and carving. It was handsomely laid. A good deal of silver was on the table, with napkins and finger-glasses; indeed, the style and serving were superior. Two servants waited: Betsey and another. The meat was roast beef—a part of beef I had never seen; it seemed a large lump of meat and no bone. Very acceptable looked it to us hungry school girls. We shall have plenty now, I thought. My plate came to me at last; _such_ a little mite of meat, and three large potatoes! I could well have put the whole piece of meat in my mouth at once. Did Miss Fenton fancy I disliked meat? But upon looking at the other plates, I saw they were no better supplied than mine was; plenty of potatoes, but an apology for meat. "Would we take more?" Miss Fenton asked, when we had despatched it. And the question was invariably put by her every day; we as invariably answered "Yes." The servants took our plates up, and brought them back. I do not believe that the whole meat combined, supplied to all the plates in that second serving, would have weighed two ounces. Potatoes again we had, much as we liked, and then came a baked rice pudding.