Good Nurse Gooch! We all owe much to her staunch fidelity, strong
discipline, and unselfish devotion, but nature had not fitted her to
deal with a timid, sensitive child, of highly nervous temperament.
Indeed, persons of far more insight might have been perplexed by the
fact that Clarence was exemplary at church and prayers, family and
private,--whenever Griff would let him, that is to say,--and would
add private petitions of his own, sometimes of a startling nature.
He never scandalised the nursery, like Griff, by unseemly pranks on
Sundays, nor by innovations in the habits of Noah's ark, but was as
much shocked as nurse when the lion was made to devour the elephant,
or the lion and wolf fought in an embrace fatal to their legs.
Bible stories and Watt's hymns were more to Clarence than even to
me, and he used to ask questions for which Gooch's theology was
quite insufficient, and which brought the invariable answers, 'Now,
Master Clarry, I never did! Little boys should not ask such
questions!' 'What's the use of your pretending, sir! It's all
falseness, that's what it is! I hates hypercriting!' 'Don't
worrit, Master Clarence; you are a very naughty boy to say such
things. I shall put you in the corner!'

Even nurse was scared one night when Clarence had a frightful
screaming fit, declaring that he saw 'her--her--all white,' and even
while being slapped reiterated, 'HER, Lucy!'

Lucy was a kind elder girl in the Square gardens, a protector of
little timid ones. She was known to be at that time very ill with
measles, and in fact died that very night. Both my brothers
sickened the next day, and Emily and I soon followed their example,
but no one had it badly except Clarence, who had high fever, and
very much delirium each night, talking to people whom he thought he