was
engaged, and Jill could not be with me, I took advantage of a general
invitation that Miss Hamilton had given me, and sent her up to Gladwyn.

They were all very kind to her, and she seemed to amuse Miss Darrell, but
after a time Mr. Tudor began going there too, and then indeed I should
have been at my wits' end, only Mrs. Maberley came to my rescue. She took
a fancy to Jill, and Jill reciprocated it, and presently she and Lady
Betty began to spend most of their idle hours at Maplehurst.

CHAPTER XXII

'THEY HAVE BLACKENED HIS MEMORY FALSELY'

I loved having Jill with me, but I could not deny to myself or other
people that I found her a great responsibility. In the first place, I
had so little leisure to devote to her, for just after Christmas I was
unusually busy. Poor Mrs. Marshall died on the eve of the New Year, and
both Mr. Hamilton and I feared that Elspeth would soon follow her.

A hard frost had set in, and granny's feeble strength seemed to succumb
under the pressure of the severe cold; she had taken to her bed, and lay
there growing weaker every day. Poor Mary had died very peacefully, with
her hand in her husband's. I had been with her all day, and I did not
leave until it was all over.

Jill was as good as gold, and helped me with Elspeth and the children,
and she always spent an hour or two with Robin; but by and by she began
asking to go up to Gladwyn of her own accord, or proposing to have tea
with Mrs. Maberley.

'Of course I would prefer to stop with you, Ursie dear,' she said
affectionately; 'I would rather talk to you than to any one else; but
then, you see, you are never at home, and when you do come in, poor
darling, you are so tired that you are only fit for a nap.' And I could
not deny that this was the truth. After my hard day's work I was not
always disposed for Jill's lively chatter, and yet her bright face was
a very pleasant sight for tired eyes.

I used to question her sometimes about her visits to Gladwyn, and she
was always ready to talk of what had passed in the day. She and Lady
Betty had struck up quite a friendship: this rather surprised me, as
they were utterly dissimilar, and had different tastes and pursuits. Jill
was far superior in intelligence and intellectual power; she had wider
sympathies, too; and though Lady Betty had a fund of originality, and was
fresh and _naive_; I could hardly understand Jill's fancy for her, until
Jill said one day,

'I do like t