"Indeed! What is it, child? Do you wish to go into respectable service? Is it a character you require? If so I will give you a good one, with my whole heart."
"Oh, no, ma'am, I am not going to leave home again. I wanted to say a few words in private to my lord."
The old lady took off her spectacles, and looked sharply at Dorothy.
"What can a young girl like you have to say to my lord? Will not saying it to me do quite as well?"
"Perhaps it would. But indeed, Mrs. Brand, I would rather, if you think I am not too bold, say what I have to say to him myself."
The housekeeper shook her head doubtingly—
"Did you ever speak to Lord Wilton before?"
"Never. I don't even know him by sight."
Mrs. Brand looked relieved.
"Then what can you have to say to him, my dear?"