I kept looking at the ceiling to keep from laughing; the ceiling there is finely painted.

His mother ought to be an abbess.

I'm afraid of her, though she did give me a black shawl.

Of course, they must all have come to strange conclusions about me.

I wasn't vexed, but I sat there, thinking what relation am I to them?
Of course, from a countess one doesn't expect any but spiritual qualities; for the domestic ones she's got plenty of footmen; and also a little worldly coquetry, so as to be able to entertain foreign travellers.