-"

"I cut it off for him with my scissors," interrupted my mother, with a
courtesy. "Saunders was very savage when he came for to know it; but he
had a stupefaction of the brain, and was quite insensible at the time;
and so, Sir Hercules and my lady" (here a courtesy), "I thought it was
better--"

"Ah! I see,--a brain fever," observed Sir Hercules. "Well, under these
circumstances you may have saved his life; but 'twas a pity, was it not,
my lady?--quite altered the man. You recollect his tail, my lady?"

"What a question, Sir Hercules!" replied her ladyship with great
dignity, turning round towards my mother.

My father appeared to be quite relieved from his dilemma by his wife's
presence of mind, and really thankful to her for coming to his
assistance; she had saved him from the mortification of telling the
truth. How true it is that married people, however much they may
quarrel, like to conceal their squabbles from the world!

"And what are you thinking of doing with your little girl?" said Lady
Hercules--"bringing her up to service, I presume. Leave that to me: as
soon as she is old enough, the _thing is done_, you need say no more
about it." Here her ladyship fell back in the large easy chair on which
she was seated, with a self-satisfied air of patronage, and looking even
more dignified than her husband.

But my mother had no such intentions, and having first thanked her
ladyship for her great kindness, stated very humbly that she did not
much like the idea of her daughter going out to service, that she was
far from strong, and that her health would not allow her to undertake
hard work.

"Well, but I presume she may do the work of a lady's maid?" replied her
ladyship haughtily; "and it was that service which I intended for her."

"Indeed, Lady Hercules, you are very kind; but there is an objection,"
replied my mother, to gain time.

"Please your ladyship," said my father, who, to my great surprise, came
to my mother's support, "I do not wish that my little girl should be a
lady's maid."

"And why not, pray?" said her ladyship, rather angrily.

"Why, you see, your ladyship, my daughter is, after all, only the
daughter of a poor Greenwich pensioner; and, although she has been so
far pretty well educated, yet I wishes her not to forget her low
situation in life, and ladies' maids do get so confounded proud
('specially those who have the fortune to be ladies' ladies' maids),
that I don't wish tha