The wild lord's face saddened. He hesitated; rose from his chair
restlessly, and walked away to the window; returned, and made up his
mind to reply.
"My dear, you know her. She was the old housekeeper at--"
His voice failed him. He was unable, or unwilling, to pronounce the
name of Arthur's farm.
Knowing, it is needless to say, that he had alluded to Mrs. Lewson,
Iris warmly commended him for taking care of her old nurse. At the same
time, she remembered the unfriendly terms in which the housekeeper had
alluded to Lord Harry, when they had talked of him.
"Did you find no difficulty," she asked, "in persuading Mrs. Lewson to
enter your service?"
"Oh, yes, plenty of difficulty; I found my bad character in my way, as
usual." It was a relief to him, at that moment, to talk of Mrs. Lewson;
the Irish humour and the Irish accent both asserted themselves in his
reply. "The curious old creature told me to my face I was a scamp. I
took leave to remind her that it was the duty of a respectable person,
like herself, to reform scamps; I also mentioned that I was going away,
and she would be master and mistress too on my small property. That
softened her heart towards me.
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