Ah! if she had had a daughter. But with a poor
apprentice, who has neither father nor mother, one need not be
over-fastidious. She had made a great many promises to the lady
superior, but she fancied that the utterance of a few commonplace
words of warning relieved her of all further obligations. 'And so
much the worse for those who allow themselves to be fooled,' she
always added in conclusion.
"Fortunately, my pride, which I had so often been reproached with,
shielded me. My condition might be humble, but my spirit was
lofty. It was a blessing from God, this pride of mine, for it
saved me from temptation, while so many fell around me. I slept,
with the other apprentices, in the attic, where we were entirely
beyond the control of those who should have been our guardians.
That is to say, when the day's toil was over, and the work-shop
closed, we were free--abandoned to our own instincts, and the most
pernicious influences. And neither evil advice nor bad example
was wanting. The women employed in the bindery in nowise
restrained themselves in our presence, and we heard them tell
marvellous stories that dazzled many a poor girl. They did not
talk as they did from any evil design, or out of a spirit of
calculation, but from pure thoughtlessness, and because they were
quite devoid of moral sense. And they never tired of telling us
of the pleasures of life, of fine dinners at restaurants, gay
excursions to Joinville-le-Pont, and masked balls at Montparnasse
or the Elysee Montmartre.
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