Ladies said to each other, "It's plain that this lively little _adoptee_ of Mrs.Delano's has never been much in good society." And gentlemen answered, "It is equally obvious that she has never kept vulgar company." Mrs.Delano's nice ideas of conventional propriety were a little disturbed, and she was slightly annoyed by the attention they attracted.

But she said to herself, "If I am always checking the child, I shall spoil the naturalness which makes her so charming." So she quietly went on explaining the pictures, and giving an account of the artists.
The next day it rained; and Mrs.Delano read aloud "The Lady of the Lake," stopping now and then to explain its connection with Scottish history, or to tell what scenes Rossini had introduced in _La Donna del Lago_, which she had heard performed in Paris.

The scenes of the opera were eagerly imbibed, but the historical lessons rolled off her memory, like water from a duck's back.

It continued to rain and drizzle for three days; and Flora, who was very atmospheric, began to yield to the dismal influence of the weather.

Her watchful friend noticed the shadow of homesickness coming over the sunlight of her eyes, and proposed that they should go to a concert.