The coachman endeavoured to obey the order, but little Fanny was too quick for him. She slipped between his arms, and again stood by the side of Mrs. Holdfast. "Ain't you Mrs. Holdfast?" she asked, looking up into the lady's face. "Yes," was the reply. "Mrs. Grace Holdfast," said Fanny, as bold as brass. I think it would be difficult to find her equal. Mrs. Holdfast, as she heard this name, Grace, which Fanny spoke loudly, gave a scream, and seizing Fanny by the arm, hurried back with her into the house. There were servants standing about, but Mrs. Holdfast took no notice of them; she put her hand on Fanny's lips, and dragged her into an empty room. Closing the door, and locking it, she bent down to Fanny and shook her roughly. Fanny did not speak or scream, but twisted herself as soon as she could from Mrs. Holdfast's grip, and said, "There! You have made my wig all crooked." Heaven only knows where this child got her wits from, but if she had been drilled for a month she could not have acted the spirit of her part with greater cleverness. The words I did not teach her; I simply told her what I wanted her to do, and left the rest to herself. "There!" she cried. "You have made my wig all crooked." And she ran to the looking-glass and set it straight again. There must have been something in her manner which made Mrs. Holdfast laugh, but as Fanny described it, her laugh was broken off in the middle. "Come here directly," said Mrs. Holdfast. Fanny obeyed. Mrs. Holdfast knelt upon the ground, and, holding Fanny's face between her hands, looked long and hard at her. "I don't know you," she said; and then she coloured up, for she saw that Fanny was returning the earnest gaze. "If you please, my lady," said Fanny, "I beg your pardon for calling you Grace; my sister said you wouldn't like it, but you were running away, and I couldn't help it." "Who is your sister?" asked Mrs. Holdfast. And now imagine Fanny, instead of at once answering the question, fainting dead away. A real swoon? Not a bit of it. A sham, to gain time to study the ground of action. Mrs. Holdfast, at first, did not appear to know what to do. She allowed Fanny to lie on the ground, and although the child's eyes were nearly quite closed, she declares that not a movement nor an expression of Mrs. Holdfast escaped her. I am entirely inclined to believe every word spoken by Fanny as she related the adventure. She says that Mrs. Holdfast looked at her for a moment, then turned away for a moment, then looked at her again, as though wishing that she was dead. Upon which Fanny gave a sigh, and murmured something about being faint and hungry.