I was nobody but a poor young woman from Guernsey, who was lodging in the spare room of Tardif's cottage.
I set myself to grow used to their mode of life, and if possible to become so useful to them that, when my money was all spent, they might be willing to keep me with them; for I shrank from the thought of the time when I must be thrust out of this nest, lonely and silent as it was.

As the long, dismal nights of winter set in, with the wind sweeping across the island for several days together with a dreary, monotonous moan which never ceased, I generally sat by their fire, for I had nobody but Tardif to talk to; and now and then there arose an urgent need within me to listen to some friendly voice, and to hear my own speaking in reply.

There were only two books in the house, the Bible and the "Pilgrim's Progress," both of them in French; and I had not learned French beyond the few phrases necessary for travelling.

But Tardif began to teach me that, and also to mend fishing-nets, which I persevered in, though the twine cut my fingers.

Could I by any means make myself useful to them?
As the spring came on, half my dullness vanished.