Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/98

 treated. As they were never out of my sight, I could answer for it, that they never saw or heard a thing that was improper, nor witnessed a single instance of falsehood or deceit. You may imagine how much I became attached to them, and yet it is impossible that you should: for none but a mother, and a fond mother, can know what my heart felt, and still feels towards them. My love for them made every thing a pleasure; and, while a sense of being accountable to God for the manner in which I discharged my trust increased my diligence, I was full of gratitude for being appointed to the delightful task.

Some months after the birth of Master Edward, the fourth and last of her children, my lady went with my lord to Scotland, to pay a visit to the countess-dowager, whom they had never seen since the year they were married; owing to some quarrel about an estate, which the old lady would not give up to my lord,