d
of late years to Herbert, and known by all manner of affectionate
sobriquets to the young ladies. Sometimes they would call her
Johnny, and sometimes the Duchess; but doubtless they and Mrs. Jones
thoroughly understood each other. By the whole establishment Mrs.
Jones was held in great respect, and by the younger portion in
extreme awe. Her breakfast and tea she had in a little sitting-room
by herself; but the solitude of this was too tremendous for her
to endure at dinner-time. At that meal she sat at the head of the
table in the servants' hall, though she never troubled herself to
carve anything except puddings and pies, for which she had a great
partiality, and of which she was supposed to be the most undoubted
and severe judge known of anywhere in that part of the country.

She was supposed by all her brother and sister servants to be a very
Croesus for wealth; and wondrous tales were told of the money she
had put by. But as she was certainly honest, and supposed to be very
generous to certain poor relations in Dorsetshire, some of these
stories were probably mythic. It was known, however, as a fact, that
two Castle Richmond butlers, one out-door steward, three neighbouring
farmers, and one wickedly ambitious coachman, had endeavoured to
tempt her to matrimony--in vain. "She didn't want none of them," she
told her mistress. "And, what was more, she wouldn't have none of
them." And therefore she remained Mrs. Jones, with brevet rank.

It seemed, from what Lady Fitzgerald said, that Mrs. Jones's manner
had been somewhat mysterious about this man, Mollett. She had
endeavoured to reassure and comfort her mistress, saying that nothing
would come of it as nothing had come of that other Tenby visit, and
giving it as her counsel that the ladies should allow the whole
matter to pass by without further notice. But at the same time Lady
Fitzgerald had remarked that her manner had been very serious when
she first said that she had seen the man before.

"Jones," Lady Fitzgerald had said to her, very earnestly, "if you
know more about this man than you are telling me, you are bound to
speak out, and let me know everything."

"Who--I, my lady? what could I know? Only he do look to me like the
same man, and so I thought it right to say to your ladyship."

Lady Fitzgerald had seen that there was nothing more to be gained by
cross-questioning, and so she had allowed the matter to drop. But she
was by no means satisfied that t