He hesitated; rose from his chair restlessly, and walked away to the window; returned, and made up his mind to reply.
"My dear, you know her.

She was the old housekeeper at--" His voice failed him.

He was unable, or unwilling, to pronounce the name of Arthur's farm.
Knowing, it is needless to say, that he had alluded to Mrs.Lewson, Iris warmly commended him for taking care of her old nurse.

At the same time, she remembered the unfriendly terms in which the housekeeper had alluded to Lord Harry, when they had talked of him.
"Did you find no difficulty," she asked, "in persuading Mrs.Lewson to enter your service ?" "Oh, yes, plenty of difficulty; I found my bad character in my way, as usual." It was a relief to him, at that moment, to talk of Mrs.Lewson; the Irish humour and the Irish accent both asserted themselves in his reply.

"The curious old creature told me to my face I was a scamp.