CHAPTER XXXVIII.
It was about this time that I installed myself in my aunt Claire's room for the purpose of study, and there too I busied myself manufacturing wonders for the "Donkey's Skin." I took possession of the place as entirely as an army occupies a conquered country--I would not admit the possibility of being in the way.
My aunt Claire was the person who petted me most.

And it was she who was always so careful of my little things.

She always looked after my finery or anything uncommonly fragile, things that the least breath of air would have blown away--such exquisitely delicate trifles, for example, as the wings of a butterfly, or the bright scale of a beetle, intended for the costumes of our nymphs and fairies--when I said to her: "Will you please take care of this, dear auntie ?" I felt that I could be easy about it, for I knew that no one would be allowed to touch it.
One of the great attractions in her room was a bear that was used for holding burnt-almonds; and I often visited the place for the sole purpose of paying my respects to this animal.

He was made of china and he sat upon his hind legs in the corner of the mantelpiece.

According to a compact that I had with my aunt, every time that his head was turned to the side (and I found it so several times during a day) it meant that there was an almond or some other kind of candy for me.