d; and,
after the funeral, I and my wife removed to a house I had in Piccadilly,
near the park. There we lived very happily for a length of time; my
sister, who had been bridesmaid to your mother, frequently came to see
us; there you were born, and my sister was one of your godmothers. The
reason of your being called Lady Anne was entirely owing to a whim of
your maid's, for at that time you had no right to the title of Lady; but
she said you would soon have, and that she should call you so now, that
she might be used to it; and, from her continually calling you so, it by
degrees became a general custom, not only with our own family, but also
with our visitors.

'Time passed away very happily till you had just completed your fifth
year, when I received orders to join my regiment, which was going upon
foreign service. It is needless to say anything of the deep grief that
your mother and I felt on this occasion. We parted, and I went abroad
in the hope that I should return again in a few months.

'Two or three letters passed between your mother and me after my
departure, when they suddenly ceased on her side. Unable to account for
this strange silence, I wrote to my sister, entreating her to write
immediately, and inform me if anything had happened. I soon received her
answer, which informed me that my father, taking advantage of my
absence, had unfortunately thought proper to pay a visit to your mother,
and reproach her in the most cruel manner for having married me. Your
dear mother was so terrified that it made her very ill.'

'Oh!' said I, interrupting my father, 'I remember it. The Earl was a
tall, thin, old gentleman; and he was in such a passion that my dear
mother fainted away on the ground, and a servant, I think her name was
Sally, came and helped her up, and brought her to her recollection
again.'

'My dear child, you are quite right,' said my father, holding his
handkerchief to his eyes; 'that unfortunate visit was the cause of all
the misery that has since befallen us. Your mother, being fearful of
receiving such another visit, soon after the Earl was gone, sent Sally
out to take lodgings for her in a private street, to which she removed
the same evening, attended only by Sally and another woman servant. She
then wrote an account of all that had passed to my sister (who was
married to Sir Henry Beaumont), and concluded her letter by saying that
she should continue in privacy in those apartments till my re