Curiosities & wonders > Tales of the castle, or, Stories of instruction and delight

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TALES OF THE CASTLE.
give her fortitude to support calamity : she cast
herself at the feet of the Almighty, and rose
with confidence, fortified and exalted above her¬
self, and with the full assurance of a calm resig¬
nation revolving in her soul.
Whilst she was in the midst of these reflec¬
tions, Jerome, her footman, entered the cham¬
ber.
Jerome was forty years of age, and had lived
with her twenty. He could neither read nor
write, was naturally blunt, apt to find fault,
spoke little, and always appeared to look with
contempt on his equals, and with a degree of
haughtiness on his masters. His sullen deport¬
ment and dissatisfied air made his attendance
not very agreeable; but his punctuality, good
conduct, and perfect fidelity, had always made
him esteemed as a most excellent and valuable
servant. His good qualities, however, were
only known in part; for he possessed the most
sublime virtue: under a rough exterior was
concealed an elevated and generous soul.
Jerome entered her chair- er with a log of
wood which he was going to put on the fire,
when his mistress said to him, I want to speak
to you. The tone of the voice in which she pro¬
nounced these words struck Jerome, who fling¬
ing down his log upon the hearth, exclaimed.