I was wonderfully fascinated by the whole personality of Lady Jane, her youth, beauty, sweetness of disposition, charming manner, and last but not least, her richly cultured mind and the true religion revealed not so much by what she said as by her every act and deed. Indeed this new love of mine bid fair to outrival even my recently sprung-up affection for Sir Hubert Blair, and I did not go down to the river bank to look out for him for several weeks owing to the great content with which the presence of my mistress filled me and the enjoyment I felt in her society. It was not so much that I was with her every minute, for her husband and other relations often engaged hours of her time, but it was my duty and my pleasure to linger near, that if by any chance she wished for me, or the others left her alone, I might be close as hand and ready to bear her company.[1] [1] We have all of us seen, occasionally, the fascination with which an older, or more gifted young woman has over a girl of similar inclinations but less ability, and so can understand this new and ardent attachment of Margaret Brown's.--ED. I remember so well and vividly what she said to me one day about her beloved Plato. We were in the garden, seated in an arbour shaded by pink and white hawthorn trees in full flower, the scent of which came to us pleasantly as we talked, whilst our eyes rested on the well-kept lawns and the trees in the park with the mighty river beyond flowing silently on its way. 'Is your book so very interesting?' I asked, for her eyes fell often upon it while we conversed as if it were enticing her back to its pages. 'Yes, dear,' she answered, 'it is most interesting, for it deals with the great truths of life. You will have to learn to read it for yourself, Margery, and you will like it, too.' 'But it is written in Greek,' said I with a sigh, 'and that would take such a lot of learning.' 'I would help you,' said Lady Jane kindly, 'and you would soon learn.' But I shook my head. 'Why should I be at so much trouble,' said I, 'when you can tell me all about it--what it says, you know?' 'What we acquire without trouble does not do us much good,' was the gentle answer. 'However, you must know Plato was the founder of a great school of Greek philosophy. He was a disciple of Socrates. You have heard of him?' 'A little,' said I. 'Master Montgomery, our good curate, told me he was a man who taught truths which the people were not educated enough to receive; therefore they killed him.' 'Yes; they killed him, much as others killed Christ our Lord, because they could not receive His teaching. Killing the body is the _extreme penalty of the law_,' and Lady Jane shuddered. ''Tis a cruel thing,' she said, 'for men to crush out and destroy the life they cannot give, and 'tis a savage idea to murder the body for what they imagine is a crime of the mind.'