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children in the nursery under the care of Dickens.
I had nothing to do but to obey. An apartment was fitted up for the young ladies and me, immediately under the nursery, which was at the very top of the house. It consisted of a sitting room, in which was a settee bed for me to sleep on, and opened with folding doors into a small room, in which were two field beds for the young ladies. I had reason to rejoice in the change, for I once more lived in peace; but I was not without anxiety on account of the dear infants, as I by no means thought the woman, who had been taken on Mrs Dickens's recommendation to supply the place of Peggy, was at all equal to the charge. But as my opinion was not asked, I had no right to give it, nor indeed had I many opportunities of observation, as our establishments were quite distinct. We came to town in November, and it was now the end of March; the 28th was Mr Meriton's birth-day,
