Read "The Real Lady Hilda" by B.M. Croker online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
It was indeed a most lamentable truth that I was not as accomplished as most of the girls of my age. I could not paint or play the violin, I had no knowledge of the German language, I was ignorant of the agile art of skirt-dancing, and could not ride a horse-much less a bicycle. However, Emma found consolation in the fact that I "walked well, and carried myself with grace!"
"This was satisfactory," I assured her with a laugh, "as I was never likely to have anything to carry _me_! As to walking, I was bound to be a foot-passenger all my days."