Perfectly happy

And yet isn’t she perfectly happy ? Her room looks like a small chapel. You know I often lack servants, but I manage without them and no one could tell. All is neat and tidy, everything is squeaky clean in the house. You can certainly say that Perrine has the most pleasant interior. Would you believe she doesn’t even seem to have a clue ! Imagine that I caught her the other day, as she was putting ribbon bows in her hair, and in front of what mirror, I’m asking you ? You would never guess : The big jam cauldron ! Admit that her dissatisfaction is unfair, because after all, there aren’t many households where cauldrons could be used as mirrors.”
Mrs. Guerin agreed, knowing that, to bring people back to reason, it is sometimes necessary to give in to their madness. She even went to the kitchen to admire the cauldron, and straightened her shawl in front of its shiny surface.
 
Extract from Fortune good and bad, by E. d’Erwin, illustrated by H. Castelli, 1877.