"I saw an advertisement in the _Morning Post_--it was quite a strange one, and seemed to be advertising for a kind of _Admirable Crichton_--someone who could take down shorthand at lightning speed, and typewrite and speak French--and read aloud, and who had a good knowledge of English literature, and thoroughly knew the duties of a secretary." "Oh! My!" said Matilda again, "but you can't do half of those things, Kitten--we none of us know French, do we!" Katherine smiled; how little her family understood her in any way! "I wrote first and said they seemed to want a great deal, but as I had been with Livingstone and Devereux for three years, and accustomed to composing every sort of letter that a moneylender's business required, I thought I could soon become proficient in the other things." "Well, I never! What cheek!" "Then I got an answer saying Lady Garribardine liked my communication, and if I proved satisfactory in appearance, and had some credentials, she would engage me immediately, because her secretary, who had been with her for years, had gone to be married--the salary would be ninety pounds a year with a rise, so it's a slight move up, anyway, as I am to be kept, and live in the house." "You are cocksure of getting it, Katherine?" "Yes--I mean to--I am going to see her on Saturday." "And what are your references besides Liv and Dev? Some folks don't like moneylenders." "I wrote and said I had no others--but they would testify to my capacity. Liv nearly had a fit when I gave my notice--he almost cried to get me to stay on. I like the old boy--he is a good sort, and will tell the truth about me." "And did they answer?" "Yes--just to say I was to come for the interview on Saturday." "They want to see you, anyway--what is the family, I wonder?" Here Katherine recited the details from Debrett, in which volume she was very proficient. "An old lady, then," Matilda commented, "and with no children except a married daughter! That will be easier for you--but why is she called 'Sarah'? I often have wondered about that, when I read names in the _Flare_. Why 'Sarah Lady Something'--and not plain Lady Something?" "It's when the man in possession is married and you are not his mother," Katherine told her, "and if you are, and still have your Christian name tacked on, it is to make you sound younger. Dev says dowagers are quite out of fashion. Every widow is 'Sarah' or 'Cordelia' now in the high society, and when he first went to business, there were only two or three. Queen Victoria never stood any nonsense." Matilda was very interested. "Whatever will you do about your clothes, Kitten? You have nothing nobby and smart like Gladys. She could lend you her purple taffeta if you weren't so tall." "Oh, I manage all right. I'll have a talk with Gladys to-night; she sees the right sort of people at Ermantine's, and can tell me what to get--and I'll buy it to-morrow in my lunch hour."