"And is this a servant's foot?"

And she advanced a ravishing little foot, which the notary had not yet
remarked, and which he now only desisted from looking at to regard Cecily
with amazement.

"I told Aunt Pipelet just what suited me; she is ignorant of my past life;
she thought I was reduced to this position by the death of my parents, and
took me for a servant; but you have, I hope, too much sagacity to partake
of her error, _dear master."_

"And what are you, then?" cried Jacques Ferrand, more and more surprised at
this language.

"That is my secret. For reasons best known to myself, I have been obliged
to leave Germany in this disguise. I wish to remain concealed at Paris for
some time. My aunt, supposing me reduced to poverty, proposed my entering
your service, spoke of your solitary manner of living, and told me that I
would never be allowed to go out. I accepted quickly. Without knowing it,
my aunt anticipated my most anxious desire. Who could look for and discover
me here?"

"Conceal yourself! what have you done, to be obliged to conceal yourself?"

"Soft offenses, perhaps, but this is my secret."

"And what are your intentions, miss?"

"Always the same. Saving your significant compliments on my shape and