it, she still knew the importance of her position, and had enough
practical vanity to make her an efficient servant and companion. She
already felt that she had got her position in life, from which she was
to go out no more for ever. She had been brought up in the shadow of
Alnwick Castle, and she knew what was due to her charge--by other people;
herself only should have liberty with her. She was taking Lali to the
home of General Armour, and that must be kept constantly before her mind.
Therefore, from the day they set foot on the Aphrodite, she kept her
place beside Mrs. Armour, sitting with her,--they walked very little,--
and scarcely ever speaking, either to her or to the curious passengers.
Presently the passengers became more inquisitive, and made many attempts
at being friendly; but these received little encouragement. It had
become known who the Indian girl was, and many wild tales went about as
to her marriage with Francis Armour. Now it was maintained she had saved
his life at an outbreak of her tribe; again, that she had found him dying
in the woods and had nursed him back to life and health; yet again, that
she was a chieftainess, a successful claimant against the Hudson's Bay
Company--and so on.

There were several on board who knew the Armours well by name, and two
who knew them personally. One was Mr. Edward Lambert, a barrister of the
Middle Temple, and the other was Mrs. Townley, a widow, a member of a
well-known Hertfordshire family, who, on a pleasant journey in Scotland,
had met, conquered, and married a wealthy young American, and had been
left alone in the world, by no means portionless, eighteen months before.
Lambert knew Richard Armour well, and when, from Francis Armour's
solicitor, with whom he was acquainted, he heard, just before they
started, who the Indian girl was, he was greatly shocked and sorry. He
guessed at once the motive, the madness, of this marriage. But he kept
his information and his opinions mostly to himself, except in so far as