Page:Adventures of Susan Hopley (Volume 1).pdf/332

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SUSAN HOPLEY.
317

her head approvingly; and now,' she continued, as she placed an omelette, with some bread and cheese and a bottle of wine, on the table before her guest, 'I'll go and prepare your bed whilst you eat your supper,' and accordingly, after selecting a pair of sheets from a cupboard near the fire she disappeared, and Julie presently heard her foot bustling about above.

"When the young heroine was left alone, she began to review her situation; and it was not without some surprise at her own temerity that she reflected on the arrangement she had made to sleep under the obscure roof of this old woman, of whose character she knew nothing, and in the near neighbourhood of a man, whom she was by no means certain might not be the assassin she was in search of. Altogether, whether he were or not, her opinion of Monsieur Rodolphe was not very favourable; he had that non-descript sort of air that made it difficult to assign him to any class, and inspired the suspicion that he did not adhere very strictly to the duties of any.

"Of the old woman, however, she thought better. In spite of her haggish exterior, there was a certain degree of frankness and good faith in her manner; and many an honest parent,

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