'Would it be proper for me to have an unmarried lady to live with me, Mrs. Fordyce?' she asked suddenly.
'Quite, if she were old enough.'
'How old?'
'Middle-aged, at least.'
'Then I know somebody who will do; it is a beautiful arrangement,' cried Gladys joyfully. 'In the little fen village where we lived, my father and I, there is a lady, Miss Peck—we lived in her house. She was very kind to us, and yet so poor; yes, I think she would come.'
'Is she a lady, Gladys?'
'If to be a lady is to have a heart of gold, which never thinks one unselfish thought, she is one, Mrs. Fordyce,' said Gladys warmly.
'These are the attributes of a lady, of course, Gladys, but there are other things, my dear, which must be considered. If this Miss Peck is to sit at your table, help you to guide your household, and be your constant companion, she must be a very superior person.'
'She was well brought up. I think her father was a surgeon in Boston,' said Gladys; and these words at once relieved the lawyer's wife.
'If that is so, she may be the very person for whom we are seeking. You are sure she is still there?'