"She has acted in this way often before," said a bystander, "and cannot be made to work or to do anything she is told." She had strangely the appearance of a Bohemian, and her fondness for the _dolce far niente_ increased my suspicions of her parentage.

The tenderness of her foster-mother for her was, however, not to be changed by her ill-conduct, for she was said to prefer her to her own children, in spite of her faults: so capricious is affection.
The road from Lusignan to Niort is through a very pleasing country, sometimes _bocage_, and sometimes _gatine_: the latter term being generally applied to a country of rocks, where the soil does not allow of much cultivation.

This is, however, not always the case, for on several occasions I have heard, as at Chartres, a little wood called _la gatine_; and once at Hastings was surprised, on inquiring my way in the fields, to be directed to pass the _gattin_ hard by; namely a small copse.

The word is said to be Celtic, and may be derived either from _geat_, which means a plot of ground, or _geas_, a thick branch.
We were much struck with the town of St.Maixant; which is approached by beautiful boulevards, and the environs are very rich and fine; the road does not lead within the walls, but outside; and there was no reason to regret this, as the streets are narrow and ill-built, while the promenades round are charming.

The Sevre Niortaise bathes the foot of the hill on which St.Maixant stands, and beyond rises the forest of Hermitaine, once part of the celebrated Vauclair, where some famous hermits took up their abode, and made the spot holy.