9/17 I am used to go out in all weathers." "Are you a governess ?" The question was so direct and kindly, that it hardly seemed an impertinence. It seems so very hard to get teaching in London. But I beg your pardon." "I beg yours," said Miss Balquidder--not without a certain dignity--"for asking questions of a stranger. But I was once a stranger here myself, and had a 'sair fecht,' as we say in Scotland, before I could earn even my daily bread. Though I wasn't a governess, still I know pretty well what the sort of life is, and if I had daughters who must work for their bread, the one thing I would urge upon them should be--'Never become a governess.' " "Indeed. |