Litchfield enquirer., 1878-08-29
'.Mother and little sic r. sir"

"Mother and little sir f, sir"
 'sDo you expect any letters from them p sMother can't write, oIr, and my little siste ! is only seven"
 Nevertheless, you expect to hear fror l them ?''
 ssWe have friend, sir, replied Nelly, blush ing a little, "a sort of relation of ours, wh will let me know how mother and my littl
 sister are getting on.'
 'tIn plain speech, you have got sweethea1 -don't deny it.
 ''l do not deny it, sir, :" replied Ellen, rathe warmly i've are to be married as soon as h has saved little money to set up business o his own account"
 Quite right j. but my object in putting al
 these questions to you is simply this: whe1 your sweetheart writes to you. you are not, i you please, to read the letter, but simply t hand it over to me"
 Ellen turned crimson. No, she could net d. | that. She was very sorry to disoblige Si John, but she could not do that. SBut, my dear," he argued, with smile Il have not the least wish to read that yOuny
 mans letter. and as soon as you have handed It to me, shall give it back to you. I trus you with all my letters can yeu not trust m, with one of yours now and then?"
 Still Ellen demurred. Her letter was he own, and it was plain that Ellen wished to dt with her own what she pleased, and be subjec to no ones control. But Sir John was firm or, if you like it, obstinate: and, after somt hesitation, and with evident reluctance, Filler yielded. 'Mind, you give me your word tl obey me in all these iniunctions," said Si John.
 ssYes, sir, do''
 t'Well, then, repeat them for me-" Filler
 did as she was bid, and she went through tht
 series of Sir John Percy's behests with a pre-
 cision and correctness that pleased him very highly.
 'sThe housekeeper shall show your room,
 he said, ringing the bell land, when you art
 rested, you can begin your duties"
 The housekeeper wasa very sour-looking la
 dy, and, having little cause to be pleased with
 the step Sir John had taken, she treated Ellen
 with Superciliousness which the girl had the good sense to ignore She had come to fill a difficult position, and it was useless to quarrel
 with its inevitable troubles. Presently she came down in lilac print dress, with plain
 white collar and sleeves, looking so trim and neat that Sir John was quite pleased with his
 new acquisition. He made her sit in the bow window which commanded a view of the sireet-door he again rang for Mrs. Long, and requested her to provide Ellen with some darn ing, or mending, or making, as she pleased, and having seen this order executed, and Ellen's little hand dive into deep basket and come forth with pair of his own stockings, he left her, chuckling and rubbing his hands, with a
 oNOw we shai see."
 But alas what was glee and hope to him was darkness and tribulatien to Nelly. This gloomy London parlor, looking out upon a gloomy London street, filled her heart with desolation. She had parted that morning with ha ypi6 hn baH hpr through much poverty and sorrow with the little sister, who clung to her, alternately kick ing or weeping, as her grief prompted with the true-hearted fellow who had loved her for years so faithfully-ske had left them all for this strange place, and this strange house, and oh :? when should she see them again Not for six months, perhaps perhaps not for year. She had done all that for little money, tempt ed by Sir John Percy's liberal wages; but it was hard, very hard, and Nelly felt it keenly. She also felt the change from the country to town. How grim looked those brick houses, with their yellow blinds half drawn down j; what 8 prison air they had, with iron railings guarding theml Nelly had been reared in a cottage, with green fields around it. She had been servant in pretty villa standing in its own grounds The little town where her lover lived had garden and an orchard to almost every one of it's dwellings. And then the lane, the delicious hawthorn lane, where they had walked together the very day before this, with Nelly's little sister Jane romping around them, and filling her pinafore with buttercups and daisses these lanes haunted poor Nelly as she sat and mended Sir Johns stockings. Should she eveE hear the nightingale sing again, as it sang last night on that lime-tree which smelt so sweet? But a postman's knock came to the door. Up jumped Nelly, and away flew the dream-lane, lime-tree,. nightingale and all. She went and opened it; three letters were put in her hand, and, closing the door careful ly, Nelly went up with these letters to Sir John, who happened to be within.
 ''All right" he said ''but am afraid it is not all right" he added abruptly. "You have been crying. Have these women already be- gan worrying you ?"
 HOtspur was up and ready for wal, and Nel- a word to her-in fact, that she had not seen a soul since he had left her in the parlor
 Then what are you crying for ?" he asked, looking injured.
 ''I parted with them all this morning, sir, and this being the first time, and the first day, too, it seems little hard"
 ''It is hard," confessed Sir John, ''but time will comfort you, or at least enable you to bear it"
 In her quiet way, Nelly said she hoped so, and she went back to the parlOr and to her alarming.
 Poor Nelly she soon had other troubles be- sides those of separation and remembrance The housekeeper, the cook, ,and the housemaid, to make her life wretched. Mrs. Longffound fault with Nellys sewing, and was, bitter on the subject of her darns. ''There never had been such," she declared. Nelly felt this acutely. Remember how old and uni versal an accomplishment alarming is and then imagine, if you can, what it is to be singled out amongst all past and present darners as the very worst of the lot. It was enough to crush Nelly's spirit forever. The cook said nothing: Deeds, not words," doubtless was her motto; but she made it rule to make Nelly eat what she disliked. Nelly hated fat, and Nelly got none but fat meat. Nelly disliked Yorkshire pudding, and Yorkshire pudding became a rule in Sir Johns kitchen. The housemaid, too, would not be behind-hand. It had been her duty to receive the letters and to attend to the door. Not being allowed to do the one, she loftily resolved not to do the other. But Nel- y, who had been quiet hitherto, and scorned to complain, now rebelled, and showed some spirit. It was contrary to her instructions to open the door to any one save the postman, for he might come whilst she was showing visit pr up-SLdlrS. one lalQ the case De1Or6 DIT J00n. HOtspur flew into a towering passion, and threated cook, maid, and housekeeper with in- stant dismissal, if they ever meddled with FL len. Nelly had not been loved before, but now she was fairly hated. fancy hers was no pleasant life, sitting alarming stockings in that grim old parlor, taking in letters, and feeling herself detested in the regions below as we'll as we'll as in the housekeeper's room above But, If his little maid lookedrather pale and melan- choly, Sir John was in tp-top spirits he had not lost letter, so he said, at least since he had had Nelly. ''The dearest little janitress that ever was, he said 'sand true as steel, sir. They laid plot to gether away from the door, but Nelly came and told me all about it. And [ gave them trimming; sir, by love, I did!
 A month and a day had Nelly been with Sir John when the postman gave her packet of letters one morning. Nelly's heart beat as she looked at them. There was one for her. It had the S-postmark upon it besides, Nel- y knew the writing. Now, there is shy, del Icate instinct in girls love-a feeling that makes her wish to hide what .sheis not asham- sd of. Nelly lenged to slip that dear letter in- to her pocket, and not let Sir John have look at It. But she remembered her promise, and went up with it as we'll as the rest. ''Oh one far yyOI1 ho