“Yes, if you please,” said Judy. “I would like to take off my bonnet and cloak.” Mrs. Basset looked all around, and then said: “I do not think that your maid has come in yet. Shall I send one of the men out to hurry her? I suppose she is busy with the parcels in the carriage.” “I—I—I—have no maid—yet,” replied Judy, blushing deeply, for she was rather afraid of this fine ruin of an old-time housekeeper, even though the aged woman was evidently falling a little into her second childhood. “Oh, I see! I beg your pardon, ma’am. You will be waiting to take some good girl from the estate. That has been the way with the ladies of Hay from time immemorial.” She paused suddenly in her babble and looked fixedly, though still very respectfully, at Mr. Hay. Now Ran was just a little sensitive about his personal appearance. He was not a handsome, soldierly blond, but a beautiful, dark brunette; graceful as a leopard, sinuous as a serpent. He was in the habit of humorously stigmatizing himself as “a little nigger.” So when the aged housekeeper regarded him with her wistful gaze, he thought she was saying to herself, how little like he was to any of the Hays. He laughed a little and said: “You do not find much resemblance in me to my tall and fair forefathers, Mrs. Basset.” “Sir,” she replied solemnly, “you are the living image of your honored grandmother. The young man burst out laughing, and was joined by Mike and Judy. But their mirth ceased as the aged housekeeper added: “She died at twenty-three years old. She was the best, the brightest and the most beautiful being that my eyes ever beheld! And, yes, she died at twenty-three years old! And you are her living image, as nearly as it is possible for a gentleman to be. That was the reason why I looked at you so, sir. I beg your pardon; I forgot myself.” “Don’t speak of it, Mrs. Basset,” said Ran kindly. “Thank you, sir. You can see the portrait in the picture gallery to-morrow and judge for yourself—or even to-night if you will,” said the housekeeper. “Thank you; not to-night; we are too tired. To-morrow you shall show us over the whole house, if you will.” “That I will with pride and pleasure, sir. And now, madam, shall I attend you to your room?” “Thank you, yes, please,” said Judy; and she followed her conductress up the broad staircase to a vast upper hall. The housekeeper opened a door near the head of the stairs and admitted her charge into a spacious, sumptuous bedchamber, upholstered in ebony and old gold, and in which burned a fine open coal fire. The aged woman, much against Judy’s will, insisted upon waiting upon her; took off her heavy cloak and hat and hung them in the wardrobe, drew a luxurious easy-chair to the fire and seated her in it, and hovered around her with affectionate attentions until Mr. Hay came in, when, with one of her quaint courtesies, she withdrew from the room.