Reasoning thus was the gentle daughter of Lady Bereford, while the latter was exultant in having formed a plan for the furtherance of a scheme which lay near her heart.
The next morning her ladyship was alone in her boudoir.

A delicately folded sheet lay upon the exquisitely inlaid writing desk before her.
Satisfaction beams upon her by occasional smiles.

Again she seizes the unclosed letter, examines closely its contents, and, with evident ease, places it in an envelope which she seals and addresses.

A servant in livery answers the summons of a silver bell standing beside the desk.
Her ladyship, drawing aside a hanging of silver tissue, approaches the door where the missive is delivered in charge of the liveried attendant.
With a sense of relief Lady Bereford returns to the library to await the morning mail.
Lady Bereford indeed lavished all the fondness of a mother's pride upon her first-born.

Maude was to her a simple-minded, gentle girl, whose sole influence was her mother's will.