, he was determined
he'd make her smart for it. And there was something more than this too.
I've said that Sir Lionel were a free sort of gentleman, fond of having
lots of company; and of course the company wasn't short of ale, and
wine, and spirits; and so long as there was a plentiful stock in the
cellar, the squire didn't trouble himself to count bottles or barrels.
He was not a man himself as drank to excess; he thought drunkenness a
low, vulgar habit, and never encouraged it; but he spent his money
freely, and those as lived in his family were never watched nor stinted.
You may suppose, then, sir, as John Hollands had a fine time of it. He
were cock of the walk in the servants' hall, and no mistake. Eh, to see
him at church on Sunday! What with his great red face, and his great
red waistcoat, and his great watch-chain with a big bunch of seals at
the end of it, I couldn't help thinking sometimes as he looked a picture
of `the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked
world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh,' which the Catechism tells
us to renounce.

"You may be sure such a man had a deal in his power; and so he had. And
it wasn't only the wine, beer, and spirits as he used pretty much as he
liked. Eh! The waste that went on downstairs was perfectly frightful;
and a pretty penny he and the cook made between 'em out of their
master's property, which they sold on the sly.

"Jane saw something of this, and longed to put a stop to it; but, poor
thing, what could she really do? She _did_ once take an opportunity of
speaking her mind gently to the butler, when they happened to be alone,
and tried to show him how wrong and wickedly he was acting. But all she
got was, that he gave her back such a volley of oaths and curses as made
her feel that it would be no use talking to him any more on the subject
just then. And he weren't content with merely abusing her; he
threatened her besides as he'd make her see afore long what sort of
paying off `sneaking spies' usually got for their pains. And he kept
his word.

"Lady Morville had got a favourite lady's-maid, who came to her when
Jane had been some years at the Hall. This maid were a stylish, dashing
young woman, and had a tongue as would turn any way it was wanted. So
she soon made herself so useful to her mistress that she was more like
an equal than a servant. But she were a thoroughly unprincipled woman,
and hated Jane almost as soon