"Can you guess what I am thinking of, Fanny?" "No, Miss." "I am asking myself a question. If I try you in my service shall I never regret it?" For the first time, strong emotion shook Fanny Mere. Her voice failed her, in the effort to speak. Iris considerately went on. "You will take the place," she said, "of a maid who has been with me for years--a good dear creature who has only left me through ill-health. I must not expect too much of you; I cannot hope that you will be to me what Rhoda Bennet has been." Fanny succeeded in controlling herself. "Is there any hope," she asked, "of my seeing Rhoda Bennet?" "Why do you wish to see her?" "You are fond of her, Miss---that is one reason." "And the other?" "Rhoda Bennet might help me to serve you as I want to serve you; she might perhaps encourage me to try if I could follow her example." Fanny paused, and clasped her hands fervently. The thought that was in her forced its way to expression. "It's so easy to feel grateful," she said--"and, oh, so hard to show it!" "Come to me," her new mistress answered, "and show it to-morrow." Moved by that compassionate impulse, Iris said the words which restored to an unfortunate creature a lost character and a forfeited place in the world. CHAPTER XV MR. HENLEY'S TEMPER PROVIDED by nature with ironclad constitutional defences against illness, Mr. Henley was now and then troubled with groundless doubts of his own state of health. Acting under a delusion of this kind, he imagined symptoms which rendered a change of residence necessary from his town house to his country house, a few days only after his daughter had decided on the engagement of her new maid. Iris gladly, even eagerly, adapted her own wishes to the furtherance of her father's plans. Sorely tried by anxiety and suspense, she needed all that rest and tranquillity could do for her. The first week in the country produced an improvement in her health. Enjoying the serene beauty of woodland and field, breathing the delicious purity of the air--sometimes cultivating her own corner in the garden, and sometimes helping the women in the lighter labours of the dairy--her nerves recovered their tone, and her spirits rose again to their higher level. In the performance of her duties the new maid justified Miss Henley's confidence in her, during the residence of the household in the country.