THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES. 517 



Ruth did as much at Erlsburgh House as she had ever done at 

 Mrs. Carter's, but all she did was delightful. It was then that she 

 became fully sensible of the advantage of having laboured so assidu- 

 ously there.' She had carried active habits with her into Essex; but 

 she had soon found that activity alone was^insufficient, and that, even 

 assisted by order and regularity, her arrangements would be imper- 

 fect unless organized by method. 



It was not all at once that she had become methodical ; but what 

 will not patience and perseverance effect ? And she now reaped, in 

 her present appointment, a rich reward. Her ear soon became fa- 

 miliarized to the Parisian accent of Mademoiselle Aurelie ; and 

 Mademoiselle, who hated trouble, despised jealousy, and dearly loved 

 to talk, gave her all the opportunities and advantages she could de- 

 sire ; nor was she ever better pleased than when the young ladies 

 came to her from Miss Watson with their lessons perfectly correct, 

 and this was not unfrequently the case. 



Miss Crofts, who was a severe and constant sufferer from bad health, 

 who had not a friend or relation in the world to give her an asylum 

 or to show her kindness if she needed it, and who could scarcely ex- 

 pect ever again to meet with the comfort and consideration she now 

 enjoyed, was peculiarly jealous of any one likely to succeed to her, 

 and had always repelled any offers of assistance in her peculiar de- 

 partments; but, even with her, Ruth's sincerity and singleness of 

 heart made its way. 



Ruth was so perfectly free from selfishness, and would so truly 

 have disclaimed (had the idea been presented to her mind) the crooked 

 policy of worldly wisdom, that a thought of Miss Crofts' suspecting 

 her never crossed her mind ; and Miss Crofts who had long been 

 tormented by fears and suspicions, and hated those wl o excited them, 

 found the feelings of confidence and affection as delightful as they were 

 new, and, passing from one extreme to the other, became as anxious to 

 instruct as Ruth was to learn— a most important advantage, for she was 

 an accomplished musician, and her drawings and paintings were ex- 

 ecuted with great beauty and delicacy. When Ruth had resided nearly 

 two years at Mrs. Somerive's, Miss Crofts' complaints assuming a 

 serious aspect confined her to her bed, and, as she gave it as her de- 

 cided opinion that Ruth was fully competent to undertake her depart- 

 ment during her illness, Mrs. Somerive allowed her to do so. 



A few weeks brought poor Miss Crofts' sufferings to their only 

 possible termination— that of her existence ; and the inhabitants of 

 Erlsburgh House received a lesson of patience and resignation from 

 one universally considered as the most impatient member of the com- 

 munity, a lesson Mrs. Somerive took great pains to impress upon her 

 boarders, which Mademoiselle Aurelie talked of for a fortnight, 

 which Ruth never forgot, and which Miss Povey never remembered. 

 Miss Crofts had numbered nearly fifty years when she was in 

 mercy released from the wretched bondage of constant bodily suf- 

 fering, and which for fifteen of that period had been of so severe a 

 nature (hat it was only by the most powerful exertions that she 

 was enabled at times to perform her duties ; while more than half of 

 her salary was secretly expended in medical aid, for she feared, 



