ased with the arrangement, as she did not like my father wearing a
pensioner's coat, and did not want his company at her own house. When
he left the hospital, she insisted upon paying him his rent; and she did
so very punctually until she gave up business. On her marriage, my
sister requested that we would come to Leamington and be present; to
which we all consented, particularly as it was a good opportunity of
introducing Bessy to her and Lady O'Connor. My mother was also to join
the party on the occasion. The only circumstance worth mentioning was
the surprise of my mother on being introduced to Lady O'Connor, and
finding that in this great lady she met with her old acquaintance, Mrs
St. Felix. Whatever she may have felt, she certainly had tact enough to
conceal it, and was as warm in her congratulations as the best
well-wisher. I must say that I never knew my mother appear to such
advantage as she did during this visit to Leamington: she dressed
remarkably well, and would have persuaded those who did not know her
history that she had always been in good society; but she had been a
lady's maid and had learnt her mistress's airs, and as she could dress
others so well, it would have been odd if she did not know how to dress
herself. A good copy will often pass for an original. It was not till
about six years after our marriage that my mother decided upon retiring
from business. She had made a very comfortable provision for herself,
as Mr Wilson informed me, and took up her abode at Cheltenham, where
she lived in a very genteel way, was considered quite a catch at card
parties, and when she did ask people to tea, she always did the thing in
better style than anybody else; the consequence was she was not only
visited by most people, but in time became rather a person of
consideration. As she never mentioned her husband, it was supposed that
she was a widow, and, in consequence of her well-regulated
establishment, she received much attention from several Irish and
foreign bachelors. In short, my mother obtained almost the pinnacle of
her ambition when she was once fairly settled at Cheltenham. I ought to
observe that when she arrived there she had taken the precaution of
prefixing a name to her own to which by baptismal rite she certainly was
not entitled, and called herself Mrs Montague Saunders.

Shortly after Mrs St. Felix had given notice to the doctor that she
should not return, and that her shop and the go