t, the new state of things did not work quite
smoothly; Allchin was inclined to an imperious manner, which the
newcomer, by name Goff, now and then plainly resented. But in a day or
two they were on fair terms, and ere long they became cordial.

Then befell the incident of Mrs. Cross' Martha.

Not without uneasiness had Warburton suggested a servant on the
recommendation of Mrs. Hopper, but credentials seemed to be fairly
good, and when, after a week or two, Mrs. Cross declared herself more
than satisfied, he blessed his good luck. Long ago he had ceased to
look for the reappearance at the shop of Bertha Cross; he thought of
the girl now and then, generally reverting in memory to that day when
he had followed her and her mother into Kew Gardens--a recollection
which had lost all painfulness, and shone idyllically in summer
sunlight, but it mattered nothing to him that Bertha showed herself no
more. Of course she knew his story from Rosamund, and in all likelihood
she felt her self-respect concerned in holding aloof from an
acquaintance of his ambiguous standing. It mattered not a jot.

Yet when the tragi-comedy of Martha's outbreak unexpectedly introduced
him to the house at Walham Green, he experienced a sudden revival of
the emotions of a year ago. After his brief meeting with Bertha, he did
not go straight back to the shop, but wandered a little in quiet
by-ways, thinking hard and smiling. Nothing more grotesque than the
picture of Mrs. Cross amid her shattered crockery, Mrs. Cross pointing
to the prostrate Martha, Mrs. Cross panting forth the chronicle of her
woes; but Mrs. Cross' daughter was not involved in this scene of
pantomime; she walked across the stage, but independently, with a
simple dignity, proof against paltry or ludicrous circumstance. If any
one could see the laughable side of such domestic squalor, assuredly it
was Bertha herself of that Will felt assured. Did he not remember her
smile when she had to discuss prices and qualities in the shop? Not
many girls smile with so much implication of humorous comment.

He had promised to look out for another servant, but hardly knew how to
go to work. First of all, Mrs. Hopper was summoned to an interview in
the parlour behind the shop, and Martha's case was fully discussed.
With much protesting and circumlocution, Mrs. Hopper brought herself at
length to own that Martha had been known to "take too much," but that
was so long ago, and the girl had solemnly