5. NOVEMBER THE TWENTIETHIt was Miss Aldclyffe's custom, a custom originated by her
father, and nourished by her own exclusiveness, to unlock the
post-bag herself every morning, instead of allowing the duty to
devolve on the butler, as was the case in most of the neighbouring
county families. The bag was brought upstairs each morning to her
dressing-room, where she took out the contents, mostly in the
presence of her maid and Cytherea, who had the entree of the
chamber at all hours, and attended there in the morning at a kind
of reception on a small scale, which was held by Miss Aldclyffe of
her namesake only.
Here she read her letters before the glass, whilst undergoing
the operation of being brushed and dressed.
'What woman can this be, I wonder?' she said on the morning
suc
