nd spectacles."

CHAPTER XI

I am not aware of all the circumstances which led to the relinquishment
of the Lille plan. Brussels had had from the first a strong attraction
for Charlotte; and the idea of going there, in preference to any other
place, had only been given up in consequence of the information received
of the second-rate character of its schools. In one of her letters
reference has been made to Mrs. Jenkins, the wife of the chaplain of the
British Embassy. At the request of his brother--a clergyman, living not
many miles from Haworth, and an acquaintance of Mr. Bronte's--she made
much inquiry, and at length, after some discouragement in her search,
heard of a school which seemed in every respect desirable. There was an
English lady who had long lived in the Orleans family, amidst the various
fluctuations of their fortunes, and who, when the Princess Louise was
married to King Leopold, accompanied her to Brussels, in the capacity of
reader. This lady's granddaughter was receiving her education at the
pensionnat of Madame Heger; and so satisfied was the grandmother with the
kind of instruction given, that she named the establishment, with high
encomiums, to Mrs. Jerkins; and, in consequence, it was decided that, if
the terms suited, Miss Bronte and Emily should proceed thither. M. Heger
informs me that, on receipt of a letter from Charlotte, making very
particular inquiries as to the possible amount of what are usually termed
"extras," he and his wife were so much struck by the simple earnest tone
of the letter, that they said to each other:--"These are the daughters of
an English pastor, of moderate means, anxious to learn with an ulterior
view of instructing others, and to whom the risk of additional expense is
of great consequence. Let us name a specific sum, within which all
expenses shall be included."

This was accordingly done; the agreement was concluded, and the Brontes
prepared to leave their native county for the first time, if we except
the melancholy and memorable residence at Cowan Bridge. Mr. Bronte
determined to accompany his daughters. Mary and her brother, who were
experienced in foreign travelling, were also of the party. Charlotte
first saw London in the day or two they now stopped there; and, from an
expression in one of her subsequent letters, they all, I believe, stayed
at the Chapter Coffee House, Paternoster Row--a strange, old-fashioned
tavern, of which I shall hav