I rose; I dressed myself with care: obliged to be plain- for I had no article of attire that was not made with extreme simplicity- I was still by nature solicitous to be neat. It was not my habit to be disregardful of appearance or careless of the impression I made: on the contrary，I ever wished to look as well as I could，and to please as much as my want of beauty would permit. I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer; I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks，a straight nose，and small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall，stately，and finely developed in figure; I felt it a misfortune that I was so little，so pale，and had features so irregular and so marked.

And why had I these aspirations and these regrets? It would be difficult to say: I could not then distinctly say it to myself; yet I had a reason，and a logical，natural reason too. However，when I had brushed my hair very smooth，and put on my black frock- which，Quakerlike as it was，at least had the merit of fitting to a nicety- and adjusted my clean white tucker，I thought I should do respectably enough to appear before Mrs. Fairfax，and that my new pupil would not at least recoil from me with antipathy. Having opened my chamber window，and seen that I left all things straight and neat on the toilet table，I ventured forth.

Traversing the long and matted gallery，I descended the slippery steps of oak; then I gained the hall: I halted there a minute; I looked at some pictures on the walls (one，I remember，represented a grim man in a cuirass，and one a lady with powdered hair and a pearl necklace)，at a bronze lamp pendent from the ceiling，at a great clock whose case was of oak curiously carved，and ebon black with time and rubbing. Everything appeared very stately and imposing to me; but then I was so little accustomed to grandeur. The hall-door，which was half of glass，stood open; I stepped over the threshold. It was a fine autumn morning; the early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields; advancing on to the lawn，I looked up and surveyed the front of the mansion. It was three storeys high，of proportions not vast，though considerable: a gentleman"s manor-house，not a nobleman"s seat: battlements round the top gave it a picturesque look.