"Now, just attend to me, all of you, for I'm in deadly earnest, and I mean to see that my orders are carried, out. You see this young gentleman"--she indicated Comethup, who was seated beside her--"this is Master Willis, my nephew. For the future he takes a place in this house, and wherever I may be, second only to mine. If he says a thing is to be done, understand that it is to be done; if he gives an order to any one of you, it must be obeyed, as swiftly as though I had given it myself. You needn't be alarmed, any of you; he's not the sort of fellow to give any of you any trouble. But, trouble or no trouble, you will understand he's the young master here, and the Lord help the man or the woman that forgets it! You know me, or you should by this time, and you know that, although I can't actually see you, I know what you're doing, every one of you, by night or by day. I know your tricks, and your humours, and your little tempers, and all the rest of it; but we'll have no tricks or humours or tempers with Master Willis. As I say, you won't find him exacting; but what he wants he's to have. That's all; I've nothing more to say." They appeared to understand very perfectly. One of them--Comethup thought it was the butler--even stepped forward and murmured a little incoherent speech, intended to convey the loyalty of himself and his fellow-servants to the young master. Miss Charlotte Carlaw nodded approval, even punctuated the broken speech with nods, and dismissed them all with a wave of her hand. "Now you understand, Comethup," she said, turning to the boy when they had gone, and putting her hand on his shoulder, "what your power here is. You'll find, although I don't think you need the advice, that all the money in the world won't enable you to hold that power if you don't set about your life in the right way. If you're peevish, or tyrannical, or unjust--well, you must expect to get sour looks and unwilling service; if you are a gentleman, and show that you only demand what is your right, and demand it courteously--for servants are human beings, and have their feelings--you'll be served gladly and faithfully; at least that's what _I_'ve found. Now come with me, and I'll show you over the house, and I'll show you your rooms." She appeared to know every inch of the great house, from the lowest floor to the garret, telling him instantly what each room was, even to the servants' rooms. "I keep a butler and a housekeeper," she explained, "but I like to know everything myself, and what everybody is doing. They used to think once they could cheat me because I couldn't see 'em; but they found out their mistake long since."