‘After all, what does it matter?’ she said, finally, with her grand air; ’I have only to marry my granddaughters creditably, and prevent my grandson going to the dogs, and then my mission on this insignificant planet will be accomplished.  What new form that particular modification of molecules which you call Lady Maulevrier may take afterwards is hidden in the great mystery of material life.’

There was no family prayer, therefore, at Fellside.  The sisters had been properly educated in their religious duties, had been taught the Anglican faith carefully and well by their governess, Fraeulein Mueller, who had become a staunch Anglican before entering the families of the English nobility, and by the kind Vicar of Grasmere, who took a warm interest in the orphan girls.  Their grandmother had given them to understand that they might be as religious as they liked.  She would be no let or hindrance to their piety; but they must ask her no awkward questions.

’I have read a great deal and thought a great deal, and my ideas are still in a state of transition,’ she told Lesbia; and Lesbia, who was somewhat automatic in her piety, had no desire to know more.

Lady Maulevrier seldom appeared in the forenoon.  She was an early riser, being too vivid and highly strung a creature, even at sixty-seven years of age, to give way to sloth.  She rose at seven, summer and winter, but she spent the early part of the day in her own rooms, reading, writing, giving orders to her housekeeper, and occasionally interviewing Steadman, who, without any onerous duties, was certainly the most influential person in the house.  People in the village talked of him, and envied him so good a berth.  He had a gentleman’s house to live in, and to all appearance lived as a gentleman.  This tranquil retirement, free from care or labour, was a rich reward for the faithful service of his youth.  And it was known by the better informed among the Grasmere people that Mr. Steadman was saving money, and had shares in the North-Western Railway.  These facts had oozed out, of themselves, as it were.  He was not a communicative man, and rarely wasted half an hour at the snug little inn near St. Oswald’s Church, amidst the cluster of habitations that was once called Kirktown.  He was an unsociable man, people said, and thought himself better than Grasmere folk, the lodging-house keepers, and guides, and wrestlers, and the honest friendly souls who were the outcome of that band of Norwegian exiles which found a home in these peaceful vales.

Miss Mueller, more commonly known as Fraeulein, officiated at breakfast.  She never appeared at the board when Lady Maulevrier was present, but in her ladyship’s absence Miss Mueller was guardian of the proprieties.  She was a stout, kindly creature, and by no means a formidable dragon.  When the gong sounded, John Hammond went into the dining-room, where he found Miss Mueller seated alone in front of the urn.