"You are quite a darling," said Nina. "I only wish you were our governess instead of horrid Brenda!" "Ah, _mechante_--but Brenda, whom you like not, is of the best. She has the principles the most high, and the desires the most perfect for your real advancement." "I don't think so for a single minute," said Nina. "I'm certain that she's a--" "Oh--don't say anything against her now!" said Josephine. Mademoiselle looked anxiously round the room. "You will wear your very prettiest dresses when you come abroad with me to-morrow night," she said. "I take you not to the promenade _ordinaire_, but to the most select one where the admission is one shilling each, and where we sit with the ladies and gentlemen of the highest quality. Have you no so-called trinkets or ornament! that you could wear?" "Oh dear, no!" said Nina, "nothing of the sort!" "But then you might borrow from your sister Function." Nina gave a childish laugh. "Fanchon has only one little silver brooch, and the pin is broken. Poor Fanchon! what would she--" "_Mais, ma chere_," said Mademoiselle, as she laid a shapely French hand on the little girl's arm, "I think you are under a misapprehension. Ask your sister to lend you her bangle." "Her bangle?" said Nina. "Breathe it not, dear one, to your adorable governess, but ask your sister to lend it to you, and I will give you the most delightful surprise when you come out with me." "But she's not got one!" said Josie. "I don't know what you are dreaming about, Mademoiselle. Poor Fanchon--I only wish she had!" "Well, dears, examine her belongings, and I think you will see that this clever mademoiselle is right, and that you, _mes enfants_, are wrong. Find it, and wear it, one or other of you, and you shall have a surprise which shall delight your young hearts. Now then, I must go. I am about to take a little walk abroad to refresh myself after the sultry airs of the house. _Bonsoir, mes enfants. Dormez bien_." Mademoiselle waved her hand to the children, and gently closed the door behind her. She left them both in a state of great excitement and wonder. What a fascinating woman she was! How delightfully she sympathised! and wouldn't it be fun to go out with her on the following evening, to have a very superior treat to that one which Fanchon enjoyed and made such a fuss about? Oh, the mystery of the whole thing, and the spice of danger in it, and the awful dread of discovery, and the maddening joy of getting away without anybody knowing, and the charming surprise which would await them! "But Mademoiselle must be mad on one point," said Nina, "for she talks of Fanchon's bangle. Fanchon hasn't got a bangle." "There's no saying what she has or hasn't," said Josie. "She's so abominably mysterious lately; she's so stuck up, and has such airs and graces, I shouldn't be a bit surprised if she had got Brenda to buy her one of those cheap shilling things you see in the shop windows."