At dinner they had a small table to themselves in a corner.  The short lady wore a white shawl over her shoulders.  Her almost apologetic manner during the meal confirmed the view that she must be a very simple person, unused to the world and its ways.  The other continued to be imperial.  She ordered half-a-bottle of wine and drank two glasses.  She stared about her quite self-unconsciously, whereas the little woman divided her glances between her companion and her plate.  They did not talk much.  Immediately after dinner they retired.  “Widows in easy circumstances” was the verdict; but the contrast between the pair held puzzles that piqued the inquisitive.

Sophia had conquered again.  Once more Sophia had resolved to accomplish a thing and she had accomplished it.  Events had fallen out thus.  The advertisement for a general servant in the Signal had been a disheartening failure.  A few answers were received, but of an entirely unsatisfactory character.  Constance, a great deal more than Sophia, had been astounded by the bearing and the demands of modern servants.  Constance was in despair.  If Constance had not had an immense pride she would have been ready to suggest to Sophia that Amy should be asked to ‘stay on.’  But Constance would have accepted a modern impudent wench first.  It was Maria Critchlow who got Constance out of her difficulty by giving her particulars of a reliable servant who was about to leave a situation in which she had stayed for eight years.  Constance did not imagine that a servant recommended by Maria Critchlow would suit her, but, being in a quandary, she arranged to see the servant, and both she and Sophia were very pleased with the girl—­ Rose Bennion by name.  The mischief was that Rose would not be free until about a month after Amy had left.  Rose would have left her old situation, but she had a fancy to go and spend a fortnight with a married sister at Manchester before settling into new quarters.  Constance and Sophia felt that this caprice of Rose’s was really very tiresome and unnecessary.  Of course Amy might have been asked to ‘stay on’ just for a month.  Amy would probably have volunteered to do so had she been aware of the circumstances.  She was not, however, aware of the circumstances.  And Constance was determined not to be beholden to Amy for anything.  What could the sisters do?  Sophia, who conducted all the interviews with Rose and other candidates, said that it would be a grave error to let Rose slip.  Besides, they had no one to take her place, no one who could come at once.

The dilemma was appalling.  At least, it seemed appalling to Constance, who really believed that no mistress had ever been so ‘awkwardly fixed.’  And yet, when Sophia first proposed her solution, Constance considered it to be a quite impossible solution.  Sophia’s idea was that they should lock up the house and leave it on the same day as Amy left it, to spend a few weeks in some holiday resort.