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would roam restlessly through the rooms and the corridors. And I, attending my classes, would feel uncomfortably that they were about. Before supper, at the hour reserved for study, when all was quiet in the schoolroom and the old teacher nodded drowsily at her desk, this was usually the moment chosen by the principal to rush noisily in. Seating her bulk on the edge of the platform, with great affection she would sing Italian, French, and Spanish songs to accompaniments on a guitar. This was to show the girls "what was done in society", she would say; in reality it was to seek relief from the boredom of her own rooms.

She found the greatest excitement in discovering who was, or was not, of "good family". Although she spoke at great length on the subject, to the very and I remained perplexed, I did gather, however, that [[underline]] I [[/underline]] was of good family, but whether this afforded me much gratification is doubtful. I remember feeling somewhat concerned as to the effect on my monitress should the awful truth concerning my mad mother and brother be revealed. Was madness a bar to "Society", or was it to be judged apart? But when this arbitress of society went so far as to pronounce certain charming girls I particularly admired as not of "good Family" I decided then and there that the lady, though perhaps not as crazy as my mother, was certainly demented to a considerable degree.

Sometime later I had occasion to mention these conversations to my mother. Most unexpectedly she flew into a rage, denouncing such comparisons as leveling. She who possessed spiritual affinities in all the spheres and belonged to the hierarchy of the heavens, of what importance could mare worldly precedence be to her, she asked. I was even more perplexed until, on reaching the age of reason I could, and did decide for myself.

All my free moments were spent with the frivolous Principal. Sunday afternoons I was deprived of "contemplation and prayer". Instead, in her private rooms, she read aloud for hours what I considered silly