Page 973 - vanity-fair

stant and kind heart; she bowed down and humbled herself,
and kissed the feet, as it were, of that beautiful and gener-
ous affection.
And gratitude was all that she had to pay back for such
admirable devotion and benefits—only gratitude! If she
thought of any other return, the image of George stood up
out of the grave and said, ‘You are mine, and mine only, now
and forever.’
William knew her feelings: had he not passed his whole
life in divining them?
When the nature of Mr. Osborne’s will became known to
the world, it was edifying to remark how Mrs. George Os-
borne rose in the estimation of the people forming her circle
of acquaintance. The servants of Jos’s establishment, who
used to question her humble orders and say they would ‘ask
Master’ whether or not they could obey, never thought now
of that sort of appeal. The cook forgot to sneer at her shabby
old gowns (which, indeed, were quite eclipsed by that lady’s
finery when she was dressed to go to church of a Sunday
evening), the others no longer grumbled at the sound of her
bell, or delayed to answer that summons. The coachman,
who grumbled that his ‘osses should be brought out and his
carriage made into an hospital for that old feller and Mrs.
O., drove her with the utmost alacrity now, and trembling
lest he should be superseded by Mr. Osborne’s coachman,
asked ‘what them there Russell Square coachmen knew
about town, and whether they was fit to sit on a box before
a lady?’ Jos’s friends, male and female, suddenly became in-
terested about Emmy, and cards of condolence multiplied

973