"There is something which I am sure that you would like. The lady here is trying to find a girl who speaks German and who would not object to do the work in the house, besides being a companion to her daughter aged fourteen. There is also a young French woman who is to help you. What do you say to it?"
I thought of the eight beds as well as the girls in the home, and said that I should feel very happy if I could obtain that situation.
"The lady is coming again at two o'clock, and if you like you may wait here and speak with her."
Controlling my joy as well as I could, I decided to wait, and sat down on my chair again.
The lady arrived in about an hour. She looked nearly forty years of age, and was very kind. She only repeated what I had heard already, and I agreed to everything. Finally she gave me a card with her name and address upon it, and told me to start two days later. When everything was settled she held out her hand to me, but took it back again as if she had thought of something.
"Have you had your dinner?"
"No," I said truthfully.
"Then you must come with me."
She made me sit down in the carriage in which she had come, and a little later we were seated round a table.
"What would you like to eat?" she asked me.