"I wish he had not come here; I wish he was gone back to Spain; I cannot bear to see him."
"His likeness to your late lady affects you perhaps, my good friend?" said Ellen.
"Oh, no, Madam; it is not that; he is like her to be sure; but it is not that. I feel so uneasy when I see him.—He does not love my Lord; and yet he used to love him. But forgive me, Madam; I forget myself: will your Ladyship please to give your orders now?"
"I will leave all to your care, my good Bayfield. I suppose the gentlemen will like to be near each other: the two chambers at the end of the gallery where I sleep (those next to that your Lord sleeps in at present, I mean) will suit them best, I think: see that they have good fires, for it is cold to-night: the wind is really alarming."
"Your Ladyship had better take another shawl round your shoulders: the staircase is cold."
Ellen thanked her careful old friend, and returned to the company.
FOOTNOTES
[A] A fact.
[B] It is said that the once lovely Lady C——, when on her death-bed, lamented to a friend sitting by her, that her little boy, then in the room, would never know what a beautiful creature his mother was. "She feels the ruling passion strong in death!"