Cheered by the morning air and this sudden change to pleasantness and life, I stepped lightly out.
The two ladies were walking up and down a wide path which bisected the garden.

The weeds grew rankly in the gravel underfoot, the rose bushes which bordered the walk thrust their branches here and there in untrained freedom, a dark yew hedge which formed the background bristled with rough shoots and sadly needed trimming.

But I did not see any of these things.

The grace, the noble air, the distinction of the two women who paced slowly to meet me--and who shared all these qualities, greatly as they differed in others--left me no power to notice trifles.
Mademoiselle was a head shorter than her BELLE-SOEUR--a slender woman and petite, with a beautiful face and a fair complexion; a woman wholly womanly.

She walked with dignity, but beside Madame's stately figure she had an air almost childish.