"No. Madeline was a good girl. She was full of gaiety, but it was innocent gaiety."
"What were your impressions of them? As to their social position? Did you believe them to be humbly born?"
"Pauline certainly; she was a peasant the same as myself. But there was something superior about Madeline which puzzled me."
"How? In what way?"
"It was only an impression. Yet there were signs. Pauline's hands were hard and coarse; and from remarks she made from time to time I knew that she was peasant-born. Madeline's hands were soft and delicate, and she had not been accustomed to toil, which all peasants are, from their infancy almost."
"From this do you infer that they were not related to each other?"
"I am sure they were related to each other. Perhaps few had the opportunities of judging as well as I could. When they were in a quiet mood I have seen expressions upon their faces so exactly alike as to leave no doubt that they were closely related."
"Sisters?"
"I cannot say."
"Or mother and daughter?"