She and her late partner were the parents of eleven children, some of whom
were dead, and some of whom were wanderers in unknown parts. During his
life-time she had kept a little shop in her native town; and it was only
within a few years that she had gone into service. She cherished a natural
haughtiness of spirit, and resented control, although disposed to do all
she could of her own motion. Being told to say when she wanted an
afternoon, she explained that when she wanted an afternoon she always took
it without asking, but always planned so as not to discommode the ladies
with whom she lived. These, she said, had numbered twenty-seven within
three years, which made us doubt the success of her system in all cases,
though she merely held out the fact as an assurance of her faith in the
future, and a proof of the ease with which places were to be found. She
contended, moreover, that a lady who had for thirty years had a house of
her own, was in nowise bound to ask permission to receive visits from
friends where she might be living, but that they ought freely to come and
go like other guests.
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