CHAPTERXVII
CLOTELLE。
THEcurtainrisessevenyearsafterthedeathofIsabella。Duringthatinterval，Henry，findingthatnothingcouldinducehismother-in-lawtorelinquishherholdonpoorlittleClotelle，andnotlikingtocontendwithoneonwhomafuturefortunedepended，graduallylostallinterestinthechild，andlefthertoherfate。
AlthoughMrs。MillertreatedClotellewithadegreeofharshnessscarcelyequalled，whenappliedtoonesotenderinyears，stillthechildgreweverydaymorebeautiful，andherhair，thoughkeptcloselycut，seemedtohaveimprovedinitssoft，silk-likeappearance。Nowtwelveyearsofage，andmorethanusuallywell-developed，herharsholdmistressbegantoviewherwithajealouseye。
HenryandGertrudehadjustreturnedfromWashington，wherethehusbandhadbeenonhisdutiesasamemberofCongress，andwherehehadremainedduringtheprecedingthreeyearswithoutreturninghome。Itwasonabeautifulevening，justattwilight，whileseatedathisparlorwindow，thatHenrysawayoungwomanpassbyandgointothekitchen。Notawareofeverhavingseenthepersonbefore，hemadeanerrandintothecook’sdepartmenttoseewhothegirlwas。He，however，metherinthehall，asshewasaboutgoingout。