"I am not offended, darling; far from it. I felt sure that you had
good-sense and good-feeling enough to see the matter in its right light
when it was properly put before you. But have you no curiosity as to the
nature of your new duties?"

"Very little at present, I must confess," answered Janet, with a wan
smile. "The chief thing for which I care just now is to know that so
long as I remain at Deepley Walls I shall be near you; and that of
itself would be sufficient to enable me to rest contented under worse
inflictions than Lady Chillington's ill-temper."

"You ridiculous Janet! Ah! if I only dared to tell you everything. But
that must not be. Let us rather talk of what your duties will be in your
new situation."

"Yes, tell me about them, please," said Janet, "and you shall see in
time to come that your words have not been forgotten."

"To begin: you will have to go to her ladyship's room precisely at eight
every morning. Sometimes she will not want you, in which case you will
be at liberty till after breakfast. Should she want you it will probably
be to read to her while she sips her chocolate, or it may be to play a
game of backgammon with her before she gets up. A little later on you
will be able to steal an hour or so for yourself, as while her ladyship
is undergoing the elaborate processes of the toilette, your services
will not be required. On coming down, if the weather be fine, she will
want the support of your arm during her stroll on the terrace. If the
weather be wet, she will probably attend to her correspondence and
book-keeping, and you will have to fill the parts both of amanuensis and
accountant. When Mr. Madgin, her ladyship's man of business, comes up to