Page:Sketches of some distinguished Indian women.djvu/121

 The domestic conditions portrayed in the story are those of an English rather than of a French home, and there are not wanting, here and there, touches which betray the oriental cast of the writer's mind. The hero, for instance, is described as tall and thin, with coal-black hair, and black liquid eyes, the typical characteristics of a young Bengali, while he is said to have had a fair complexion, which showed his high birth. To a European mind the latter expression is absurd and meaningless, but it would come quite naturally to a native of India, where the higher classes have almost always fairer complexions than the lower classes.

The manuscript as left by Toru Dutt was complete so far as the story was concerned, but it required careful editing before it could be sent to the press, and this work was cheerfully undertaken by Mademoiselle Bader, whose introduction to the book is full of sympathetic and generous appreciation.

The story is told in the form of a journal, supposed to have been written by Mademoiselle D'Arvers. She begins to write her journal when she returns to her home from the convent in which she has been educated, and depicts the very natural conflict of feelings which fills her mind. Her joy at returning to her parents and the pleasure she anticipates from mixing in society being mingled with regret at quitting the convent in which she has passed some happy years,