CHAPTER XXXI.
SEPIA.
As naturally as if she had been born to that very duty and no other, Mary slid into the office of lady's-maid to Mrs.Redmain, feeling in it, although for reasons very different, no more degradation than her mistress saw in it.

If Hesper was occasionally a little rude to her, Mary was not one to _accept_ a rudeness--that is, to wrap it up in resentment, and put it away safe in the pocket of memory.

She could not help feeling things of the kind--sometimes with indignation and anger; but she made haste to send them from her, and shut the doors against them.

She knew herself a far more blessed creature than Hesper, and felt the obligation, from the Master himself, of so enduring as to keep every channel of service open between Hesper and her.

To Hesper, the change from the vulgar service of Folter to the ministration of Mary was like passing from a shallow purgatory to a gentle paradise.