But for Eleanor he never had a harsh word.

She was thoroughly fond of arithmetic, and "gave her mind to it," to use a good old phrase.
"Ah!" the little man would yell at us.

"You are so light-headed! Sometimes you do do a sum, and sometimes not; but you do never _think_.
There is not one young lady of this establishment who thinks, but Miss Arkwright alone." I remember an incident connected with the arithmetic-master which occurred just after we came, and which roused Eleanor's intense indignation.

It was characteristic, too, of Madame's ideas of propriety.
The weather was warm, and we were in the habit of dressing for tea.

Our toilettes were of the simplest kind.