I got up, and, following her into the hall, found, not a gentleman, but a respectably-dressed man, who very civilly apologized for disturbing me. “I beg your pardon, ma’am; but are you Miss Rayner?” “Oh, no!” “Mrs. Rayner?” “No. Mrs. Rayner is an invalid, and I am afraid you cannot see her. I am the governess. If you have any message for Mr. Rayner, I will give it to him; or, if you like, you can write him a note, and it shall be given him when he returns.” “Thank you, miss.” Still he hesitated. “Would you like to wait for Mr. Rayner? He will be back in about an hour.” “Thank you. Could I speak to you in private for a few minutes, miss?” “Oh, yes, certainly! Will you come in here?”--and I opened the door of the schoolroom. He followed me in and shut it carefully. “I am the brother of Sarah Gooch, miss, who is a servant here.” I nodded assent. “I’ve been abroad and worked myself into a good position, and now I want my sister to leave service. And I don’t want the other servants to know I’m her brother. It may be pride; but perhaps you’ll excuse it, miss. Would you mind sending for her without saying it’s her brother wants her?” How could I break the fact of her illness to the poor man? “Oh, please be prepared for bad news! I’m so sorry!” said I gently. “She is ill--very ill.” To my surprise, he looked more incredulous than unhappy. He said very suddenly-- “She was quite well last Friday afternoon.” “Yes--an accident happened to her on Friday night. She fell down a flight of stairs and injured herself severely. If you will only wait until Mr. Rayner comes, he will speak to you. Sarah is a very old servant in this family, and much respected, and she has every possible care, I assure you.” But he still seemed more curious than anxious about her, I thought. “She has been in the family a long time then? Excuse me, miss, but I’ve been away so long that she is almost like a stranger to me, and I had great difficulty in finding her out. But I’m very glad to hear she is thought so well of.” “Oh, yes! Mr. Rayner has the greatest confidence in her.” I did not want to say anything disagreeable about the woman now that she was ill, especially to her brother, whose affection did not seem very warm as it was. “Ah, that’s the great thing! We’ve always been a family to hold our heads high, and I couldn’t hear anything to please me more about her. But I expect it’s little use my coming home and wanting her to keep house for me. She was a good-looking girl, and I’ve no doubt she’s looking forward to marrying on her savings, and then we shall be just as far apart as ever. Do you know, miss--if it’s not troubling you too much, and you won’t take it a liberty--if she’s got a sweetheart?”