Mademoiselle Genseigne sits very upright at her high desk. She has a gentle, serious face; her neatly braided hair and her black tippet inspire respect and sympathy.
Mademoiselle Genseigne, who is very clever, is teaching her little pupils cyphering.
She says to Rose Benoit:
“Rose Benoit, if I take four from twelve, what have I left?”
“Four?” answers Rose Benoît.
Mademoiselle Genseigne is not satisfied with the answer.
“And you, Emmeline Capel, if I take four from twelve, how much have I left?”
“Eight,” Emmeline Capel answers.
“You hear, Rose Benoît, I have eight left,” insists Mademoiselle Genseigne.
Rose Benoît falls into a brown study. Mademoiselle Genseigne has eight left, she is told, but she has no notion if it is eight hats or eight handkerchiefs, or possibly eight apples or eight feathers. The doubt has long tormented her. She can make nothing of arithmetic.