68 KEW GARDENS 



gossiped about her condition ; and the meddle- 

 some Mr. Boswell declared that he would set 

 the whole Club upon Dr. Burney, if she were 

 not allowed to resign. 



This she was most loth to do. She tried taking 

 " the bark," but that did little good. The Rev. 

 Dr. Willis volunteered a prescription which she 

 found "too violent" in its effect, while grateful 

 to him for his interest in her. " Why," said 

 he, " to tell the truth, I don't quite know how I 

 could have got on at Kew, in the King's illness, 

 if it had not been for seeing you in a morning. 

 I assure you they worried me so, all round, one 

 way or other, that I was almost ready to go off. 

 But you used to keep me up prodigiously. 

 Though, I give you my word, I was afraid 

 sometimes to see you, with your good-humoured 

 face, for all it helped me to keep up, because I 

 did not know what to say to you, when things 

 went bad, on account of vexing you." 



Every one noticed her miserable plight, yet 

 the Queen showed herself too blind to the fact of 

 a life being wasted in her service. Even the ill- 

 tempered Mrs. Schwellenberg was kind in her 

 way, who seems to have found this subordinate 

 a pleasingly submissive victim, and occasionally 



