She was French, from the neighbourhood of Arles, and of course a Catholic.
She had come to London originally as lady's-maid to a Russian family settled at Nice.

Shortly after their arrival, her master shot his young wife for a supposed intrigue, and then put an end to himself.

Naturally the whole establishment was scattered, and the pretty Louise Suveret found herself alone, with a few pounds, in London.

Thanks to the kind offices of the book-keeper in the hotel where they had been staying, she had been introduced to a milliner of repute in the Bond Street region, and the results of a trial given her, in which her natural Frenchwoman's gift and her acquired skill came out triumphant, led to her being permanently engaged.
Thenceforward her good spirits--which had been temporarily depressed, not so much by her mistress's tragic ending as by her own unexpected discomfort--reappeared in all their native exuberance, and she proceeded to enjoy London.

She defended herself first against the friendly book-keeper, who became troublesome, and had to be treated with the most decided ingratitude.