Lady Victoria Campbell

20 THE HOUSEHOLD FRIENDS
" It was against all rules Lizzie King should thus be
housekeeper at such a tender age, and before she had
duly served in all the mysterious grades which con-
stitute the well-ordered life of a large household.
Yet, what other title could be given her % Her
apprenticeship was perfect for the simple reason
Old John King was the one general superintendent.
Woe unto Lizzie if boards were not kept as clean as
might suffice for serving a meal, or if ever a spider
wove its web in any corner, however remote ! A
girl was hired to keep her company and help in the
work. She had board wages of seven shillings and
sixpence a week, and that was sufficient for the
porridge and milk, the broth, and the eggs which
were her fare, and out of that ' abundance ' she was
always supplying something for the wants of others.
" In 1847 the ' Maister George/ of Kingie's would-be
nursery days, succeeded his father.
" Probably, it was at this date that anything like
formal recognition of Lizzie's position became neces-
sary. For two years Rosneath Castle had been the
home of the Marquis of Lome, and his young wife
had won the loving reverence hitherto bestowed
on ' George and Emma Campbell/ but still it was
a moot question, one that no one cared to solve, as
to which of the households she belonged.
" Lizzie made her decision promptly. Whether the
touch of Highland blood in this daughter of a cove-
nanting house enabled her to foresee that the Dowager
Duchess would in a few years' time join the Church
of Rome, it is hard to say. If she did have a pre-