It was so easy, without the least sense of ill-feeling, to give her all the drudgery to do.

There was plenty of drudgery, though it did not present itself to Emily Fox-Seton in that light.

She no more realised that she was giving Lady Maria a good deal for her money, so to speak, than she realised that her ladyship, though an amusing and delightful, was an absolutely selfish and inconsiderate old woman.

So long as Emily Fox-Seton did not seem obviously tired, it would not have occurred to Lady Maria that she could be so; that, after all, her legs and arms were mere human flesh and blood, that her substantial feet were subject to the fatigue unending trudging to and fro induces.

Her ladyship was simply delighted that the preparations went so well, that she could turn to Emily for service and always find her ready.