om with many a backward glance of contempt
towards Madame Flauve.

When the lessons began (or rather before they began) a time-table was
drawn up by Madame Flauve:

{ 10--11 French
Monday { 11--12 Geography 2.30--4 Walk
{ 12--1 History

{ 10--11 Geography
Tuesday { 11--12 History 2.30--4 Walk
{ 12--1 French

{ 10--11 History
Wednesday { 11--12 Geography 2.30--4 Walk
{ 12--1 French

Thursday { 10--11 French
{ 11--12 History 2.30--4 Walk
{ 12--1 Geography

{ 10--11 Geography
Friday { 11--12 French 2.30--4 Walk
{ 12--1 History

Michael, when he saw the programme of his work, felt much depressed. It
seemed to lack variety and he was not very much cheered up to hear that
at meals only French would be spoken. Those meals were dreadful. At
first Nurse and Stella were present, but when Nanny found that Madame
wanted to teach Stella the French for knife and fork, she declined to
have dinner downstairs any longer, and Michael and Madame Flauve were
left to dine tete-a-tete on dull food and a languishing conversation.

"Madam indeed," Nurse would sniff, when the governess had left after
tea, "I never heard of such a thing in all my life. Madam! A fine
Madam!"

"What an imperence," agreed Mrs. Frith. "Fancy, a ordinary volgar thing
like that to go calling herself Madam, whatever shall we come to?"

"It does seem a cheek, don't it?" said Annie.

"I never!" Cook gasped. "I never! Madam! Well, I could almost laugh at
the sauce of it. And all that cleaning as you might say for a person as
isn't a scrap better than you and me."

"Oh, I've written to Mrs. Fane," said Nurse. "I said there must be some
mistake been made. Oh, yes, a mistake--must be a mistake."

Michael did not much enjoy the walks with his governess. He was always
taken to a second-hand furniture-shop in the Hammersmith Road, not a
pleasant old furniture-shop with Toby mugs and stuffed birds and coins;
but a barrack full of red washing-stands and white-handled chests of
drawers. Madame Flauve informed him that she was engaged in furnishing
at that moment, and would immediately show him a locket with the
portrait of her husband inset. Michael could not gain any clear idea of
what M. Flauve was like, since all that remained was a nebulous prof