Explore "The Little Old Portrait" by Mary Louisa Molesworth on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
"Pierre opened the door, but in an instant he saw it was not the priest. A woman in dark clothing, her face half concealed by a veil or handkerchief of some kind, which she had muffled round her head, stood before him. She was coming forward as if to enter without speaking, when, glancing upwards, she perceived that he was not, as she had imagined, Edmond. She fell back startled, but instantly recovering herself.
"`Who may you be, citizen? ' she said, in a hard, cold tone, which had little gentleness in it, and then she added in a lower voice, `Mind you, if you are another aristocrat in disguise, come to take refuge here, I will have nothing to do with you. I have enough on my hands, and so have they,' nodding towards the door, where the poor dead lady was lying, `in there.'