She possesses a pretty good accent; of her real knowledge of the language I have as yet had no opportunity of forming an opinion." "And her natural capacity, monsieur?
I have had my fears about that: can you relieve me by an assurance at least of its average power ?" "I see no reason to doubt its average power, mademoiselle, but really I scarcely know her, and have not had time to study the calibre of her capacity.

I wish you a very good afternoon." She still pursued me.

"You will observe, monsieur, and tell me what you think; I could so much better rely on your opinion than on my own; women cannot judge of these things as men can, and, excuse my pertinacity, monsieur, but it is natural I should feel interested about this poor little girl (pauvre petite); she has scarcely any relations, her own efforts are all she has to look to, her acquirements must be her sole fortune; her present position has once been mine, or nearly so; it is then but natural I should sympathize with her; and sometimes when I see the difficulty she has in managing pupils, I reel quite chagrined.
I doubt not she does her best, her intentions are excellent; but, monsieur, she wants tact and firmness.

I have talked to her on the subject, but I am not fluent, and probably did not express myself with clearness; she never appears to comprehend me.

Now, would you occasionally, when you see an opportunity, slip in a word of advice to her on the subject; men have so much more influence than women have--they argue so much more logically than we do; and you, monsieur, in particular, have so paramount a power of making yourself obeyed; a word of advice from you could not but do her good; even if she were sullen and headstrong (which I hope she is not), she would scarcely refuse to listen to you; for my own part, I can truly say that I never attend one of your lessons without deriving benefit from witnessing your management of the pupils.