Some people said he was mad, others, that he was a saint. His parents and friends thought the latter, but he was only a young enthusiast, whose whole heart and soul and mind were filled with one idea, with which he panted to imbue the whole world. As Hetty chattered about Nell, and what she had done and said in London, Hugh’s eyes became strained and anxious, and his attention was wholly enchained. ‘I never heard before,’ he said presently, ‘of maid-servants drinking their tea off silver trays and sitting in the best rooms.’ ‘That’s only because you don’t know anything of London life,’ cried Hetty, tossing her little head. ‘Nell says it’s quite different from the country, and anyone can see so for themselves. Why, the gentleman who met us at the play (I forget his name) spoke to our Nell just as if she was a lady, and took off his hat when we drove away in the cab, as if we were duchesses. Oh, it was lovely; I wish we lived in London always.’ ‘You’ve had quite enough of town life for awhile, my lass,’ observed her father. ‘Your head would be turned with much more. You’ll be expecting mother to give you your tea on a silver tray next.’ ‘Oh, never mind the tray!’ exclaimed Mrs Llewellyn impatiently. ‘If it had been of gold, it couldn’t have been too good for our Nell. But tell me how she looked, Hetty. Is she quite well and bonny? Does she seem happy in this grand place? Does she have plenty to eat, or did you see any signs of fretting after the old home in my girl? for if so, I’ll have her back, ay, if she was housekeeper to twenty lords, or the Prince of Wales himself; God bless him.’ ‘Oh, no, mother, don’t you worry. Nell is as happy as happy can be. I’m sure of that. Of course she’d like to come home for a bit. I could see the tears in her eyes when she spoke of you and father--’ ‘God bless my lass,’ cried her mother, interrupting her. ‘When you say that, I feel as if I couldn’t rest another night without she came home. What a pretty thing she was at sixteen--you remember her, Hugh, with her bright hair streaming down her back, and her eyes dancing with fun and mischief. The prettiest lass in all Usk, or for miles around. Everybody said so. Didn’t they, Hugh?’ ‘Yes, Mrs Llewellyn, you are right; they did so,’ replied Hugh. ‘A bit wild and wilful-like, but no harm in her,’ continued the mother. ‘And might have married well if she had stayed here. Well, I miss her sorely, and always have done so, and shall all the more now that Hetty’s gone and got married. I’ve never seen the girl that was a patch on my Nell.’ ‘Now, mother, suppose you stop your bemoanings and pass round the griddle cakes,’ interposed the farmer. ‘I don’t call it much of a compliment to William and Hetty here, for you to amuse us with praises of our Nell. You heard what Het says, that she means to come to Usk the first holiday she gets, and what do you want more? She might have married and gone out to America, and then you’d have had to do without her altogether.’