His
own chamber was too much that of an invalid to serve any longer as
sitting-room for Jane; he desired to take the front room below for
that purpose, to make the other on the same floor Jane's bed-room,
and then to share with the Byasses the expense of keeping a servant,
whose lodging would be in the chamber thus set free. Hitherto Bessie
and Jane and an occasional charwoman had done all the work of the
house; it was a day of jubilation for Mrs. Byass when she found
herself ruling over a capped and aproned maid. All these things set
it beyond doubt that Michael Snowdon had means greater than one
would have supposed from his way of living hitherto. Jane's removal
from work could, of course, be explained by her grandfather's
growing infirmities, but Bessie saw more than this in the new order
of things; she began to look upon the girl with a certain awe, as
one whose future might reveal marvels.
For Jane, as we know, the marvels had already begun. She came back
from Danbury not alto ether like herself; unsettled a little, as it
appeared; and Michael's illness, befalling so soon, brought her into
a nervous state such as she had not known for a long time.
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