"It is very fashionable, and you will become accustomed to it."
"No, I shall never be reconciled to such a caricature. Now that I can choose for myself, I shall attend less to fashion than to fitness in my dress. But I have seen mankind—let me see nature and heaven. Mesmer, may I look upon the skies?"
"Come, my child, and we will try if your eyes can bear the full light of day," replied Mesmer, fondly, and taking her arm he led her toward the window.
But Therese, usually so firm in her tread, took short, uncertain steps, and seemed afraid to advance.
"Gracious Heaven!" exclaimed she, clinging anxiously to Mesmer, "see how the windows come toward us! We shall be crushed to death!"
"No, Therese; it is we who advance, not they. You will soon acquire a practical knowledge of the laws of optics, and learn to calculate distances and sizes as well as the rest of us."
"But what is this?" cried she, as they approached the tall mirror that was placed between the windows.
"That is a mirror."
"And who is that man who is so like yourself?"
"That is only the reflection of my person in the mirror."