They didn't care for her, but they loved my father--oh, long ago in the
country, where we lived. When he died and I hadn't any money or training
for work, they were nice to Mrs. Ellsworth for my sake--or, rather, for
my father's sake--and persuaded her to take me as her companion. She was
glad to do it to please them; but soon she realized that they didn't mean
to reward her by being intimate.
"Poor woman, I was almost sorry for her disappointment! You see, she's
a snob at heart, and though 'Smith' sounds a common name, both the
Archdeacon and his wife have titled relations. So have I--and that was
another reason for taking me. She adores a title. Doesn't that sound
pitiful? But she has few interests and no real friends, so she's never
given up hope of 'collecting' the Smiths.
"That's why she lets me visit them. And when I happened to mention, for
something to say, that the Archdeacon had an eccentric cousin in America
who was afraid of hotels and even of visiting at their house because of a
fad about burglars, she offered to give him the better of her two spare
rooms whenever he came to England.
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