The young doctor,
bent on fulfilling the promise he had made to M. Linders, had
altered all his plans, remaining in Paris till his little
charge's affairs were settled, and then bringing her to Liege,
with the intention of leaving her in her aunt's hands, and
then proceeding to Switzerland for the accomplishment of as
much of his proposed tour as should still be practicable. He
willingly forfeited these days out of his brief holiday, for
he had come to regard the child so unexpectedly thrown upon
his care, with a very sincere interest, an affection not
unmixed with wonder. Madelon was not at all like any other
little girl he had ever had anything to do with, or rather--for
his experience on this point was limited--unlike his
preconceived notions of little girls in general. We, who know
what Madelon's education had been, cannot feel surprised at
her total ignorance of all sorts of elementary matters, her
perfect unconsciousness of the most ordinary modes of thought
current in the world, and of the most generally received
standards of right and wrong, combined with a detailed
experience in a variety of subjects with which children in
general have no acquaintance.
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