I entered this office with a throbbing heart. In
addition to the stout gentleman and the Lady Superior, I found
there a thin, wiry man, with cunning eyes, and a portly woman,
with a coarse but rather good-natured face. The superior at once
informed me that I was in the presence of M. and Madame Greloux,
bookbinders, who had come to the asylum in search of two
apprentices, and she asked me if I should like to be one of them.
Ah! monsieur, it seemed to me that heaven had opened before me and
I boldly replied: 'Yes.' The gentleman in the black skullcap
immediately emerged from his place behind the grating to explain
my obligations and duties to me at length, especially insisting
upon the point, that I ought to be grateful--I, a miserable
foundling, reared by public charity--for the generosity which this
good gentleman and lady showed in offering to take charge of me
and employ me in their workshop. I must confess that I could not
clearly realize in what this great generosity which he so highly
praised consisted, nor did I perceive any reason why I should be
particularly grateful. Still, to all the conditions imposed upon
me, I answered, 'Yes, yes, yes!' so heartily that Madame Greloux
seemed greatly pleased. 'It is evident that the child will be
glad to get away,' she said to herself. Then the superior began
to enumerate the obligations my employers would incur, repeating
again and again that I was one of the very best girls in the
asylum--pious, obedient, and industrious, reading and writing to
perfection, and knowing how to sew and embroider as only those who
are taught in such institutions can.
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