Her hair was flaxen, her person delicate, she was very timid and
extremely fair, had a clear voice, capable of just modulation, but
which she had not courage to employ to its full extent. She had the
mark of a scald on her bosom, which a scanty piece of blue chenille
did not entirely cover, this scar sometimes drew my attention,
though not absolutely on its own account. Mademoiselle des Challes,
another of my neighbors, was a woman grown, tall, well-formed,
jolly, very pleasing though not a beauty, and might be quoted for
her gracefulness, equal temper, and good humor. Her sister, Madam de
Charley, the handsomest woman of Chambery, did not learn music, but
I taught her daughter, who was yet young, but whose growing beauty
promised to equal her mother's, if she had not unfortunately been a
little red-haired. I had likewise among my scholars a little French
lady, whose name I have forgotten, but who merits a place in my list
of preferences. She had adopted the slow drawling tone of the nuns, in
which voice she would utter some very keen things, which did not in
the least appear to correspond with her manner; but she was
indolent, and could not generally take pains to show her wit, that
being a favor she did not grant to every one. When with my scholars, I
was fond enough of teaching, but could not bear the idea of being
obliged to attend at a particular hour; constraint and subjection in
every shape are to me insupportable, and alone sufficient to make me
hate even pleasure itself.
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