“Pull away!  It’s good exercise for you!” muttered Hannah to herself.  And this was all the notice she took of the incensed young lady, who was finally compelled to go down stairs and get the prints herself.  But she was so much disturbed and caused Fanny to feel so unpleasantly that neither of them had any real enjoyment in examining the beautiful pictures.  After these had been turned over and remarked upon for some time, and they had spent an hour in conversation, the bell was again rung.  Hannah, who came with her usual reluctance, was directed to prepare some lemonade, and bring it up with cake.  This she did, after a good deal of delay, for which she was grumbled at by Helen.  After the cake bad been eaten, and the lemonade drank, Hannah was again summoned to remove the waiter.  This was performed with the same ill grace that every other service had been rendered.

“I declare! these servants worry me almost to death!” Helen again broke forth.  “This is just the way I am served whenever I have a visiter.  It is always the time Hannah takes to be ill-natured and show off her disobliging, ugly temper.”

Fanny made no reply to this.  But she had her own thoughts.  It was plain enough to her mind, that her friend had only herself to blame, for the annoyance she suffered.  After witnessing one or two mote petty contentions with the domestic, Fanny went away, her friend promising, at her particular request, to come and spend a day with her early in the ensuing week.

It can do no harm, and may do good, for us to draw aside for an instant the veil that screened from general observation the domestic economy of the Armitage family.  They were well enough off in the world as regards wealth, but rather poorly off in respect to self-government and that domestic wisdom which arranges all parts of a household in just subordination, and thus prevents collisions, or encroachments of one portion upon another.  With them, a servant was looked upon as a machine who had nothing to do but to obey all commands.  As to the rights of servants in a household, that was something of which they had never dreamed.  Of course, constant rebellion, or the most unwillingly preformed duties, was the undeviating attendant upon their domestic economy.  It was a maxim, with Mrs. Armitage, never to indulge or favor one of her people in the smallest matter.  She had never done so in her life, she said, that she had got any thanks for it.  It always made them presumptuous and dissatisfied.  The more you did for them, the more they expected, and soon came to demand as a right what had been at first granted as a favor.  Mrs. Armitage was, in a word, one of those petty domestic tyrants, who rule with the rod of apparent authority.  Perfect submission she deemed the only true order in a household.  Of course, true order she never could gain, for such a thing as perfect submission to arbitrary rule among domestics in this country never has and never will be yielded.  The law of kindness and consideration is the only true law, and where this is not efficient, none other will or can be.