Putting aside the necessity which he thought existed for establishing the _entente cordiale_ between Lizzie and the mother of her adored, the good doctor was full of sympathy--in which he forgot all her former bad temper and malevolence towards him--for the poor old woman was lying grievously ill--sick unto death nearly, at 1 The Poplars. She was so ill, so changed, so friendless and deserted, only tended by strangers and hired servants, that Doctor Jolly thought that the best thing for her in common charity was to get some one to come and see her, and minister, who would be actuated in so doing by a higher and more of a brotherly-kindness principle than that of mere wage. With this idea revolving strongly in his head, the doctor could think of no one better suited for the post than Lizzie. By employing her, he would be able to achieve two purposes at once--kill two birds with one stone. Tom's lady-love was willing and happy enough at the thought; the only thing that remained was to gain the old dowager's consent for the arrangement, and this Doctor Jolly found much more easily done than he had thought possible. For a long time the old lady had remained speechless, and of course nothing could be done about it then. She was in such a state that the mere sight of a new face might have affected her fatally, much less the sight of a face which could be connected in her mind, if she could think, with former times and her quarrel with her son. But, by-and-bye, as the dowager became more sensible and was able to express her wishes by writing on a slate, and afterwards to speak when she got back her voice--what a changed voice it was!--the doctor mooted the matter. He suggested that she should have some one to sit and read with her for company's sake, as he told her: it was bad for her to be alone with only a servant, and it would delay her recovery if she were not roused out of herself. She had at first given a vehement veto against the suggestion. She thought the doctor was going to prepare Miss Kingscott's society for her, remembering Aesculapius's old partiality in that quarter. But when he indignantly denied this, and told her he would not propose her company for any decent person--the doctor had learnt the governess's treachery from Mr Trump--the old lady accepted very agreeably the offer of Lizzie Pringle's society. She thought it quite a satisfactory substitute for the old lady whom she had dreaded the doctor was going to invite to wait on her. Doctor Jolly took Mrs Hartshorne at her word, and sent Lizzie up the very same afternoon that he got permission, for fear that the dowager might withdraw the same. He did not doubt that the moment the old lady knew Lizzie she would take to her, and then the rest lay in Lizzie's own hands.