"Yes, ma'am," answered Margaret, looking up in the face of her future mistress.
"Sit down," she said, "and I will explain what I should want you to do. I hear you are very fond of children."
"Very indeed, ma'am; I was a nurse for many years till I married."
"So I heard. Now, you know, the place I want you to fill is not exactly a nurse's situation, it is more that of a matron. I am very lonely, and I am going to take care of a few little children, and try to bring them up to be useful and happy; but above all things I wish to teach them to love our Saviour."
Margaret's eyes looked very sympathising, but she did not speak.
"I have almost settled on a house at Hampstead, and I shall want, I believe, three servants; that is, a nurse-matron, a cook, and a housemaid. My own maid Ellen has consented to be the housemaid, at any rate for a time, and if you are willing to be nurse, there only remains the cook to find. But first I must tell you that I shall not be rich, so your wages will have to be moderate."
"Oh, I am quite willing!" exclaimed Margaret. "To have my child with me, and to be engaged in such work, I should only want just enough to keep me respectable."
"You shall have that, you may be sure. But I mean this: I shall not be able to pay you according to the amount of trust I put in you, but rather according to what I can afford."
"I quite agree," said Margaret earnestly. Then, hesitating, she said shyly: "Have you made up your mind, ma'am, what sort of person you wish to have for a cook?"
"Not at all. Do you know of anyone?"