“Don’t come near me!” shrieked her Ladyship, on hearing the door open.  “Send Harry to take me away; I don’t want anybody but Harry!”—­and a torrent of tears, sobs, and exclamations followed.

“My dear Lady Juliana,” said Mrs. Douglas, softly approaching the bed, “compose yourself; and if my presence is disagreeable to you I shall immediately withdraw.”

“Oh, is it you?” cried her sister-in-law, uncovering her face at the sound of her voice.  “I thought it had been these frightful old women come to torment me; and I shall die—­I know I shall—­if ever I look at them again.  But I don’t dislike you; so you may stay if you choose, though I don’t want anybody but Harry to come and take me away.”

A fresh fit of sobbing here impeded her utterance; and Mrs. Douglas, compassionating her distress, while she despised her folly, seated herself by the bedside, and taking her hand, in the sweetest tone of complacency attempted to soothe her into composure.

“The only way in which you can be less miserable,” said Mrs. Douglas in a soothing tone, “is to support your present situation with patience, which you may do by looking forward to brighter prospects.  It is possible that your stay here may be short; and it is certain that it is in your own power to render your life more agreeable by endeavouring to accommodate yourself to the peculiarities of your husband’s family.  No doubt they are often tiresome and ridiculous; but they are always kind and well-meaning.”

“You may say what you please, but I think them all odious creatures; and I won’t live here with patience; and I shan’t be agreeable to them; and all the talking in the world won’t make me less miserable.  If you were me, you would be just the same; but you have never been in London—­that’s the reason.”

“Pardon me,” replied her sister-in-law, “I spent many years of my life there.”

“You lived in London!” repeated Lady Juliana in astonishment.  “And how, then, can you contrive to exist here?”

“I not only contrive to exist, but to be extremely contented with existence,” said Mrs. Douglas, with a smile.  Then assuming a more serious air, “I possess health, peace of mind, and the affections of a worthy husband; and I should be very undeserving of these blessings were I to give way to useless regrets or indulge in impious repinings because my happiness might once have been more perfect, and still admits of improvement.”

“I don’t understand you,” said Lady Juliana, with a peevish yawn.  “Who did you live with in London?”

“With my aunt, Lady Audley.”

“With Lady Audley!” repeated her sister-in-law in accents of astonishment.  “Why, I have heard of her; she lived quite in the world; and gave balls and assemblies; so that’s the reason you are not so disagreeable as the rest of them.  Why did you not remain with her, or marry an Englishman?  But I suppose, like me, you didn’t know what Scotland was!”