ds. The fact was that she was
pleased with the arrangement, as she did not like my father wearing a
pensioner's coat, and did not want his company at her own house. When he
left the hospital, she insisted upon paying him his rent; and she did so
very punctually until she gave up business. On her marriage, my sister
requested that we would come to Leamington and be present; to which we
all consented, particularly as it was a good opportunity of introducing
Bessy to her and Lady O'Connor. My mother was also to join the party on
the occasion. The only circumstance worth mentioning was the surprise of
my mother on being introduced to Lady O'Connor, and finding that in this
great lady she met with her old acquaintance, Mrs. St. Felix. Whatever
she may have felt, she certainly had tact enough to conceal it, and was
as warm in her congratulations as the best well-wisher. I must say that
I never knew my mother appear to such advantage as she did during this
visit to Leamington. She dressed remarkably well, and would have
persuaded those who did not know her history that she had always been in
good society; but she had been a lady's maid and had learned her
mistress's airs, and as she could dress others so well, it would have
been odd if she did not know how to dress herself. A good copy will
often pass for an original. It was not till about six years after our
marriage that my mother decided upon retiring from business. She had
made a very comfortable provision for herself, as Mr. Wilson informed
me, and took up her abode at Cheltenham, where she lived in a very
genteel way, was considered quite a catch at card-parties, and when she
did ask people to tea she always did the thing in better style than
anybody else. The consequence was she was not only visited by most
people, but in time became rather a person of consideration. As she
never mentioned her husband, it was supposed that she was a widow, and,
in consequence of her well-regulated establishment, she received much
attention from several Irish and foreign bachelors. In short, my mother
obtained almost the pinnacle of her ambition when she was once fairly
settled at Cheltenham. I ought to observe that when she arrived there
she had taken the precaution of prefixing a name to her own to which by
baptismal rite she certainly was not entitled, and called herself Mrs.
Montague Saunders.

Shortly after Mrs. St. Felix had given notice to the doctor that she
should not return, an