re."

"Tell me some more."

"This was her idea of things generally: first of all, to have the
greatest self-respect; to stoop to no meanness; to desecrate the body
or mind in no way; to conquer and overcome all foolish emotions;
to be unselfish, to be gay, to be courageous; to bear physical and
moral pain without any outward show; to forever have in front of one
that a straight and beautiful carriage must be the reflection of a
straight and beautiful mind; to take pleasure in simple things, and
to be contented with what one has got if it is impossible to obtain
better--in short, never to run one's head against a stone wall or
a feather-bed, but if a good thing is to be gained by patience, or
perseverance, or concentration, to obtain it."

"I am learning. Continue," said Antony, but there was no mock in his
eyes. Only he smiled a little.

"They both had a fine contempt of death and a manner of _grand
seigneur_ and a perfect philosophy. They had the refinement of
sentiment of the _ancien regime_, only they were much less coarse. And
in the _ancien regime_ one worshipped the King and the constitution of
France, whereas grandmamma and the Marquis worshipped only _le beau_
in everything, which is higher than an individual."

"How well you tell it! I shall have to reorganize my religion."

"You are laughing at me!"

"No, I am not. I am deeply interested. Go on," and he leaned back in
the straight-backed arm-chair.

"'Never stay in the mud,' was another of grandmamma's maxims. 'It
happens that the best of us may fall there in life, but no one need
stay there,' she used to say. Even the common people could rise out
of it if they a fine enough spirit. But we were the examples, and one
must never give a bad example. For instance, the common people might
cry when they were hurt. They were only lower creatures and under the
protection of the others. They could roar, if it pleased them, as they
were the model of no one. But we could not cry, to encourage this
foolishness."

"And so you lived and learned all that, dear little Comtesse! No
wonder your eyes are so wise."

"I remember once I became impatient with some new stitches in my
embroidery that would not go right, and I flung the piece down
and stamped on it and tore it. Grandmamma said nothing, but she
deliberately undid a ball of silk and tangled it dreadfully, and
then gave it to me to straighten out. It was not to irritate me, she
said. But patience and discipl