"No," said Madelon; and then, full of her own ideas, she asked abruptly—"what was everyone doing in there?"
"In there!—in the church, do you mean?"
"Yes, in the church—what was everyone doing?"
"But do you not know, then," said the mother, "that it is to- day a great fête—the fête of the Assumption?"
"No," said Madelon, "I did not know. Was that why so many people were there? What were they doing?" she persisted.
"How do you mean?—do you not go the messe every Sunday?" said
Madame, surprised.
"To the messe!" answered Madelon—"what is that? I never was in a church before."
"Never in a church before!" echoed a chorus of three astonished voices, while Monsieur added—"Never in this church, you mean."
"No," answered Madelon, "it is the first time I ever went into a church at all."
"But, mon enfant," said the mother, "you are big enough to have gone to church long before this. Why, you must be eight or nine years old, and Nanette here went to the grand' messe before she was five—did you not, Nanette?"