“I cut it off for him with my scissors,” interrupted my mother, with a courtesy.  “Saunders was very savage when he came for to know it; but he had a stupefaction of the brain, and was quite insensible at the time; and so, Sir Hercules and my lady” (here a courtesy), “I thought it was better—­”

“Ah!  I see—­a brain fever,” observed Sir Hercules.  “Well, under these circumstances you may have saved his life; but ’twas a pity, was it not, my lady?—­quite altered the man.  You recollect his tail, my lady?”

“What a question, Sir Hercules!” replied her ladyship with great dignity, turning round toward my mother.

My father appeared to be quite relieved from his dilemma by his wife’s presence of mind, and really thankful to her for coming to his assistance; she had saved him from the mortification of telling the truth.  How true it is that married people, however much they may quarrel, like to conceal their squabbles from the world!

“And what are you thinking of doing with your little girl?” said Lady Hercules—­“bringing her up to service, I presume.  Leave that to me.  As soon as she is old enough, the thing is done, you need say no more about it.”  Here her ladyship fell back in the large easy-chair on which she was seated, with a self-satisfied air of patronage, and looking even more dignified than her husband.

But my mother had no such intentions, and having first thanked her ladyship for her great kindness, stated very humbly that she did not much like the idea of her daughter going out to service, that she was far from strong, and that her health would not allow her to undertake hard work.

“Well, but I presume she may do the work of a lady’s maid?” replied her ladyship haughtily; “and it was that service which I intended for her.”

“Indeed, Lady Hercules, you are very kind; but there is an objection,” replied my mother, to gain time.

“Please your ladyship,” said my father, who, to my great surprise, came to my mother’s support, “I do not wish that my little girl should be a lady’s maid.”

“And why not, pray?” said her ladyship, rather angrily.

“Why, you see, your ladyship, my daughter is, after all, only the daughter of a poor Greenwich pensioner; and, although she has been so far pretty well educated, yet I wishes her not to forget her low situation in life, and ladies’ maids do get so confounded proud (’specially those who have the fortune to be ladies’ ladies’ maids), that I don’t wish that she should take a situation which would make her forget herself and her poor old pensioner of a father; and, begging your honor’s pardon, that is the real state of the case, my lady.”

What my mother felt at this slap at her I do not know, but certain it is that she was satisfied with my father taking the responsibility of refusal on his own shoulders, and she therefore continued:  “I often have told Mr. Saunders how happy I was when under your ladyship’s protection, and what a fortunate person I considered myself; but my husband has always had such an objection to my girl being brought up to it that I have (of course, my lady, as it is my duty to him to do so) given up my own wishes from the first; indeed, my lady, had I not known that my little girl was not to go to service, I never should have ventured to have called her Virginia, my lady.”