‘I must read Shakespeare.’
‘You must have his spirit before you; you must hear his voice with your mind’s ear; you must take some of his soul into yours.’
‘With a view to making me better; is it to operate like a sermon?’
‘It is to stir you—to give you new sensations. It is to make you feel your life strongly, not only your virtues, but your vicious, perverse points.’
‘Dieu! que dit-elle?’ cried Hortense, who hitherto had been counting stitches in her knitting, and had not much attended to what was said, but whose ear these two strong words caught with a tweak.
‘Never mind her, sister; let her talk: now just let her say anything she pleases to-night. She likes to come down hard upon your brother sometimes; it amuses me, so let her alone.’
Caroline, who, mounted on a chair, had been rummaging the bookcase, returned with a book.
‘Here’s Shakespeare,’ she said, ‘and there’s “Coriolanus.” Now, read, and discover by the feelings the reading will give you at once how low and how high you are.’
‘Come, then, sit near me, and correct when I mispronounce.’
‘I am to be the teacher, then, and you my pupil?’
‘Ainsi, soit-il!’
‘And Shakespeare is our science, since we are going to study?’
‘It appears so.’
‘And you are not going to be French, and sceptical, and sneering? You are not going to think it a sign of wisdom to refuse to admire?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘If you do, Robert, I’ll take Shakespeare away, and I’ll shrivel up within myself, and put on my bonnet and go home.’
‘Sit down; here I begin.’
‘One minute, if you please, brother,’ interrupted Mademoiselle, ‘when the gentleman of a family reads, the ladies should always sew. Caroline, dear child, take your embroidery; you may get three sprigs done to-night.’
Caroline looked dismayed.
‘I can’t see by lamp-light; my eyes are tired, and I can’t do two things well at once. If I sew, I cannot listen; if I listen, I cannot sew.’
‘Fi, donc! Quel enfantillage!’ began Hortense.
Mr. Moore, as usual, suavely interposed.
‘Permit her to neglect the embroidery for this evening. I wish her whole attention to be fixed on my accent, and to insure this, she must follow the reading with her eyes; she must look at the book.’