Instead of lying in bed grumbling at the length of the lonely days and pain-weary nights, her ladyship allowed herself to be cajoled into rising and reclining on a couch, which was then wheeled into the adjoining room by James and the faithful Lowton. At first this was only for an hour or two a day, and the invalid, refusing to admit that she could be, in any way, benefited by the lively gossip of her granddaughters, had insisted that the reading of sermons and other pious works suited better with her age and infirmities than plays and poetry. But by the end of the week she had abandoned Atterbury and Taylor for the _Tatler_ and the latest works of Pope and Prior, and was thirsting for yet more exciting entertainment, which she knew to be tantalizingly near at hand. As soon as the return of the cousins became known, their numerous friends, who had contented themselves with polite inquiries after the invalid, while Lowton was the sole dispenser of news, displayed a touching solicitude about her condition. Every afternoon Lady Prue held quite a little levee—at which the sickness of the old countess up-stairs did not interfere greatly with the gaiety below. Day by day these cheerful sounds grew more and more exasperating to Lady Drumloch, whose passion for scandal was only whetted by the comments of the two girls, and who chafed rebelliously under the restrictions of the doctor, and led the devoted Lowton the life of a dog. "Did I hear voices and laughter this afternoon?" she demanded, one evening, when her granddaughters came to bid her a dutiful good night. "’Twas but Mary Warburton and Lady Limerick, who came to inquire after the health of their beloved cousin," said Prue demurely. "No one else? It seemed to me that a dozen times, at least, the door was thundered at as though a queen’s messenger demanded entrance." "In very truth, your ladyship’s penetration is marvelous!" cried Prue eagerly. "Her Majesty most graciously bade Lady Limerick inquire the latest news of ’the dear countess’ gout’—and also, if my duties at your bedside left me leisure to attend the court." "And, pray, what answer did you make?" Lady Drumloch inquired suspiciously. "In good faith, I was put to it for excuses, since I had admitted the favorable change in your symptoms, and received the congratulations of many anxious friends," returned Prue pathetically. "’Tis true I have no heart for frivolous pleasures while my dear grandmother is ill—but the court is another thing, and people begin to wonder at my absence." "Well, what is the matter? Why make excuses at all? I am not aware that I have imposed any restrictions upon you," said the old lady crisply. "Lowton has taken very good care of me for a year, and you may still venture to trust me to her for a few hours. ’Tis news to me that you should be so averse to ’frivolous pleasures’ that you need make _me_ an excuse for giving them up."