hundred and fifty pounds per annum; so that, after all, I was better off
than I had once expected to be.

I bade farewell to Agatha, to Clare, to my kind friends Sir John and
Lady Thesiger. God knew the grief that filled my heart; I cannot
describe it.

On my road to the station I met the Crown Anstey carriage. Mrs Trevelyan
bowed to me from it. She was taking a drive with the little Sir Rupert.

"God bless the child!" I said, as his little face smiled from the
carriage window. "God bless him and send him a happy life!"

It took me some little time to settle down to my new life. My employer,
Lord Winter, lived in the Champs Elysees. He preferred Paris to England,
because it was brighter and gayer. I often wondered how that mattered to
him, for he lived only in his books.

I was required to assist him in making extracts, answering letters,
searching for all kinds of odd information, and I do believe I learned
more in that time than I should have done in a lifetime differently
spent.

I became reconciled to it after a hard struggle. From Harden Manor I
constantly received the kindest letters. Agatha wrote to me, and
although the word "love" seldom occurred in her letters, I knew her
heart was, and always would be mine. She would never forget me, nor
would that crown of all sorrows be mine--I should never have to give her
up to a wealthier rival. Although she said nothing of the kind in her
letters, I felt that it was true.