"Obligation! And so you had nothing else to depend on, Ellen, but this man this Van something this Dutchman! What did he do for you?"
"A great deal, Sir." Ellen would have said more, but a feeling in her throat stopped her.
"Now, just hear that, will you?" said Lady Keith. "Just think of her in that farmhouse, with that sweeping and dusting woman and a Dutch farmer, for these three years!"
"No," said Ellen, "not all the time; this last year I have been"
"Where, Ellen?"
"At the other house, Sir."
"What house is that?"
"Where that lady and gentleman lived that were my best friends."
"Well, it's all very well," said Lady Keith; "but it is past now; it is all over, you need not think of them any more. We will find you better friends than any of these Dutch Brunters or Grunters."
"Oh, aunt Keith!" said Ellen, "if you knew" But she burst into tears.