married a retainer of the house, had been nurse to Lord Greville,
whom she still regarded with something of a maternal affection.
Her husband had died the preceding year; equally lamented by the
master whom he served, and the domestics whom he ruled; and his wife
was now daily declining, and threatening to follow her aged partner
to the grave. It was imagined by the other members of the
establishment, that the old lady had written to her master, with
whom she frequently corresponded, to entreat a personal interview,
in order that she might resign her "steward-ship" into his hands
before her final release from all earthly cares and anxieties; and
in consideration of the length and importance of her services, none
were surprised at the readiness with which her request was granted.

Lord Greville had never visited the North since the death of his
first wife, a young and beautiful woman whom he had tenderly loved,
and who died and was interred at Greville Cross. She left no
children, and the heir, a fine boy in the full bloom of childhood and
beauty, who now accompanied Lord Greville, was the sole offspring of
his second marriage.

Helen, the present Lady Greville, was by birth a Percy; and although
her predecessor had been celebrated at the Court of Charles, as one
of the most distinguished beauties of her time, there were many who
considered her eclipsed by the lovely and gentle being who now
filled her place. She was considerably younger than her husband; but
her attachment to him, and to her child, as well as her naturally
domestic disposition, prevented the ill effects often resulting from
disparity of years. Lord Greville, whose parents were zealous
supporters of the royal cause, had himself shared the banishment of
the second Charles; had fought by his side in his hour of peril, and