The new inmates lived and took
their meals apart from the rest of the family. With the domestics Lady
Hermione, for so she was termed, held no communication, and
Mademoiselle Pauline only such as was indispensable, which she
dispatched as briefly as possible. Frequent and liberal largesses
reconciled the servants to this conduct; and they were in the habit of
observing to each other, that to do a service for Mademoiselle
Pauline, was like finding a fairy treasure.
To Aunt Judith the Lady Hermione was kind and civil, but their
intercourse was rare; on which account the elder lady felt some pangs
both of curiosity and injured dignity. But she knew her brother so
well, and loved him so dearly, that his will, once expressed, might be
truly said to become her own. The worthy citizen was not without a
spice of the dogmatism which grows on the best disposition, when a
word is a law to all around. Master George did not endure to be
questioned by his family, and, when he had generally expressed his
will, that the Lady Hermione should live in the way most agreeable to
her, and that no inquiries should be made concerning their history, or
her motives for observing such strict seclusion, his sister well knew
that he would have been seriously displeased with any attempt to pry
into the secret.
But, though Heriot's servants were bribed, and his sister awed into
silent acquiescence in these arrangements, they were not of a nature
to escape the critical observation of the neighbourhood.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373