“Pshaw!” said Mrs. Major F.; “nobody cares for him—a black.”
“But, my dear Mrs. F., though he is a black, the boy has eyes and ears, like the rest of his sex, and my sense of female propriety is shocked by his presence. But, who are these people?”—glancing at Flora and her maid—“and why is that woman admitted into the ladies’ cabin?—servants have no business here.”
“She is the nurse; that alters the case,” said Miss Leigh. “The plea of being the children’s attendant brought Master Hector into the cabin.”
“The boy is black, and has, on that score, as Mrs. Major F. says, neither rank nor sex,” continued the waspish Miss Mann, contradicting the objections she had made to Hector’s company only a few minutes before. “I will not submit to this insult, nor occupy the same apartment with a servant.”
“My dear Madam, you strangely forget yourself,” said Miss Leigh. “This lady has a very young infant, and cannot do without the aid of her nurse. A decent, tidy young woman is not quite such a nuisance as the noisy black boy that Mrs. Dalton has entailed upon us.”
“But, then she is a woman of _fashion_,” whispered Miss Mann; “and we know nothing about these people, and if I were to judge by the young person’s dress—”
“A very poor criterion,” interrupted Miss Leigh; “I draw my inferences from a higher source.” And turning to Flora, she inquired, in a kind, friendly tone, “if she were going all the way to Edinburgh, the age of the baby, and how both were affected by the sea.”
Before Flora could answer these questions, Miss Mann addressed her with great asperity of look and manner—
“Perhaps, Madam, you are not aware that it is against the regulations of these vessels, to admit servants into the state cabin.”
“I am sorry, ladies,” said Flora, rather proudly, “that the presence of mine should incommode you. I have only just recovered from a dangerous illness, and am unable at present to take the whole charge of the child myself. I have paid for my servant’s attendance upon me in the cabin, and I am certain that she will conduct herself in a manner not to offend the prejudices of any one here.”
“How unpleasant,” grumbled the old maid, as she turned disdainfully on her heel; “but what else can be expected from under-bred people.”