Then our father entered with a
young girl at his side dressed in black. Paula had come!
In anticipation I had fancied Paula as a pale, sad little girl with blue
eyes full of tears. She would have golden hair, very smooth, cut off at the
base of her ears, and would be dressed in black muslin, and wear a straw
hat with a black ribbon tied under her chin. But here was a different
Paula. She was large for her age and appeared quite strong. Her frank open
face, bronzed with the sun and air, showed health and intelligence. A black
silk cap with a wide ribbon of the same color, failed to entirely hide a
magnificent head of brown hair, gathered beneath her cap after the manner
of the Waldensians. Her simple dress of black and gray stripes reached
almost to her ankles, while an apron of fine cretonne came to her knees. A
black shawl whose points passed under her arms and were knotted behind,
protected her shoulders, while a pair of great thick shoes completed her
attire. In spite of what to our mind was a certain quaint oddness in her
dress, it could not hide Paula's beauty. Her forehead was broad and
intelligent, her large brown eyes were full of a certain sweetness, and a
lovely smile played on her half-opened lips.
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