now, on the few occasions when Miss Rachel accidentally spoke to her.My lady noticed the change, and asked me what I thought about it. I tried to screen the girl by answering that I thought she was out of health; and it ended in the doctor being sent for, as already mentioned, on the nineteenth. He said it was her nerves, and doubted if she was fit for service. My lady offered to remove her for change of air to one of our farms, inland. She begged and prayed, with the tears in her eyes, to be let to stop; and, in an evil hour, I advised my lady to try her for a little longer. As the event proved, and as you will soon see, this was the worst advice I could have given. If I could only have looked a little way into the future, I would have taken Rosanna Spearman out of the house, then and there, with my own hand.On the twentieth, there came a note from Mr. Godfrey. He had arranged to stop at Frizinghall that night, having occasion to consult his
father on business. On the afternoon of the next day, he and his two
eldest sisters would ride over to us on horseback, in good time before
dinner. An elegant little casket in china accompanied the note,
presented to Miss Rachel, with her cousin’s love and best wishes. Mr.
Franklin had only given her a plain locket not worth half the money. My daughter Penelope, nevertheless—such is the obstinacy of women—still
backed him to win.Thanks be to Heaven, we have arrived at the eve of the birthday at
last! You will own, I think, that I have got you over the ground this
time, without much loitering by the way. Cheer up! I’ll ease you with
another new chapter here—and, what is more, that chapter shall take you
straight into the thick of the story.
CHAPTER IXJune twenty-first, the day of the birthday, was cloudy and unsettled at
sunrise, but towards noon it cleared up bravely.We, in the servants’ hall, began this happy anniversary, as usual, by
offering our little presents to Miss Rachel, with the regular speech
delivered annually by me as the chief. I follow the plan adopted by the
Queen in opening Parliament—namely, the plan of saying much the same
thing regularly every year. Before it is delivered, my speech (like the
Queen’s) is looked for as eagerly as if nothing of the kind had ever
been heard before. When it is delivered, and turns out not to be the
novelty anticipated, though they grumble a little, they look forward
hopefully to something newer next year. An easy people to govern, in
the Parliament and in the Kitchen—that’s the moral of it.After breakfast, Mr. Franklin and I had a private conference on the subject of the Moonstone—the time having now come for removing it from the bank at Frizinghall, and placing it in Miss Rachel’s own hands.

Whether he had been 

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