ladies to the child. She would appear upon their somewhat barren
horizon as a new and interesting duty, and the small additional
income she also represented would be almost nominal compensation for
the care she would receive. They were excellent persons of the kind
that talk about matins and vespers, and attend both. They helped
little charities and gave little teas, and wrote little notes, and
made deprecating allowance for the eccentricities of their titled or
moneyed acquaintances. They were the subdued, smiling,
unimaginatively dressed women on a small definite income that you
meet at every rectory garden-party in the country, a little
snobbish, a little priggish, wholly conventional, but apart from
these weaknesses, sound and simple and dignified, managing their two
small servants with a display of the most exact traditions, and
keeping a somewhat vague and belated but constant eye upon the
doings of their country as chronicled in a bi-weekly paper. They
were all immensely interested in royalty, and would read paragraphs
aloud to each other about how the Princess Beatrice or the Princess
Maud had opened a fancy bazaar, looking remarkably well in plain
grey poplin trimmed with Irish lace--an industry which, as is well
known, the Royal Family has set its heart on rehabilitating. Upon
which Mrs. Farnham's comment invariably would be, 'How thoughtful of
them, dear!' and Alice would usually say, 'Well, if I were a
princess, I should like something nicer than plain grey poplin.'
Alice, being the youngest, was not always expected to think before
she spoke. Alice painted in water-colours, but Emma was supposed to
have the most common sense.

They took turns in writing to us with the greatest regularity about
Cecily; only once, I think, did they miss the weekly mail, and that
was when she threatened diphtheria and they thought we had better be