The Moonstone | Page 5

been in our house, where it was lost, if it had not been made a
present of to my lady's daughter; and my lady's daughter would never
have been in existence to have the present, if it had not been for my
lady who (with pain and travail) produced her into the world.
Consequently, if we begin with my lady, we are pretty sure of
beginning far enough back. And that, let me tell you, when you have
got such a job as mine in hand, is a real comfort at starting.
If you know anything of the fashionable world, you have heard tell of
the three beautiful Miss Herncastles. Miss Adelaide; Miss Caroline;
and Miss Julia--this last being the youngest and the best of the three
sisters, in my opinion; and I had opportunities of judging, as you shall
presently see. I went into the service of the old lord, their father (thank
God, we have got nothing to do with him, in this business of the
Diamond; he had the longest tongue and the shortest temper of any man,
high or low, I ever met with)--I say, I went into the service of the old
lord, as page-boy in waiting on the three honourable young ladies, at
the age of fifteen years. There I lived till Miss Julia married the late Sir
John Verinder. An excellent man, who only wanted somebody to
manage him; and, between ourselves, he found somebody to do it; and
what is more, he throve on it and grew fat on it, and lived happy and
died easy on it, dating from the day when my lady took him to church
to be married, to the day when she relieved him of his last breath, and
closed his eyes for ever.
I have omitted to state that I went with the bride to the bride's husband's
house and lands down here. "Sir John," she says, "I can't do without
Gabriel Betteredge." "My lady," says Sir John, "I can't do without him,
either." That was his way with her--and that was how I went into his
service. It was all one to me where I went, so long as my mistress and I
were together.
Seeing that my lady took an interest in the out-of-door work, and the
farms, and such like, I took an interest in them too--with all the more
reason that I was a small farmer's seventh son myself. My lady got me
put under the bailiff, and I did my best, and gave satisfaction, and got
promotion accordingly. Some years later, on the Monday as it might be,

my lady says, "Sir John, your bailiff is a stupid old man. Pension him
liberally, and let Gabriel Betteredge have his place." On the Tuesday as
it might be, Sir John says, "My lady, the bailiff is pensioned liberally;
and Gabriel Betteredge has got his place." You hear more than enough
of married people living together miserably. Here is an example to the
contrary. Let it be a warning to some of you, and an encouragement to
others. In the meantime, I will go on with my story.
Well, there I was in clover, you will say. Placed in a position of trust
and honour, with a little cottage of my own to live in, with my rounds
on the estate to occupy me in the morning, and my accounts in the
afternoon, and my pipe and my ROBINSON CRUSOE in the
evening--what more could I possibly want to make me happy?
Remember what Adam wanted when he was alone in the Garden of
Eden; and if you don't blame it in Adam, don't blame it in me.
The woman I fixed my eye on, was the woman who kept house for me
at my cottage. Her name was Selina Goby. I agree with the late William
Cobbett about picking a wife. See that she chews her food well and sets
her foot down firmly on the ground when she walks, and you're all right.
Selina Goby was all right in both these respects, which was one reason
for marrying her. I had another reason, likewise, entirely of my own
discovering. Selina, being a single woman, made me pay so much a
week for her board and services. Selina, being my wife, couldn't charge
for her board, and would have to give me her services for nothing. That
was the point of view I looked at it from. Economy--with a dash of love.
I put it to my mistress, as in duty bound, just as I had put it to myself.
"I have been turning Selina Goby over in my mind," I said, "and I think,
my lady, it will be cheaper to marry her than to keep her."
My lady burst out laughing,