as you want me, Raby," and then, as though she would turn the subject,
she asked Fay if she read much, and which were her favorite books. But
she soon saw her mistake.

"I am afraid I am very stupid," returned Fay, blushing a little, "but
I do not care to read very much. Aunt Griselda--she was the aunt with
whom I lived until I was married--did not like me to read novels, and
heavy books send me to sleep."

"I dare say you are too busy to read," interposed Raby rather hastily;
"with such a household as yours to manage, you must be sufficiently
employed."

"Oh, but I have not so much to do after all," replied Fay, frankly.
"When I married I was terribly afraid that I should never know how to
manage properly; the thoughts of accounts especially frightened me,
because I knew my sums would not ever come right if I added them up a
dozen times."

"Ladies generally hate accounts."

"Oh, but I have none to make up," returned Fay, with a merry Laugh;
"Hugh, I mean my husband, attends to them. If I have bills I just give
them to him. And Mrs. Heron manages everything else; if there are any
orders she goes to Sir Hugh. He says I am so young to be troubled
about things, and that I don't understand how to regulate a large
household. We lived in such a tiny cottage, you see, and Aunt Griselda
never taught me anything about housekeeping."

"Yes, I see," observed Raby rather absently; he was wondering what
Margaret would say to all this.

"I never thought things would be quite so easy," went on Fay, gayly.
"Now if Hugh, I mean my husband, says two or three gentlemen are
coming to dinner, I just tell Mrs. Heron so, and she tells Ellerton,
and then everything is all right. Even when things go wrong, as they
will sometimes, Sir Hugh does all the scolding; he says I am each a
little thing that they might only laugh at me; but I tell him I shall
never be taller if I live to be an old woman."

Mr. Ferrers kept his thoughts to himself, but he said kindly, "I dare
say you find plenty of little duties for yourself, Lady Redmond."

"Oh, yes, I am always busy," returned Fay, seriously; "Mrs. Heron says
that she is sure that I shall grow thin with so much running about,
but unless I am driving or riding, or Erle is talking to me, I do
believe I am never still for many minutes at a time. Oh, I do work
sometimes, only one can not work alone, and I go to the poultry-yards
and the stables. Bonnie Bess always has a feed of corn from my hand