"
Ella thanked Mrs. Mobberly warmly for her advice, which she promised to
follow, and as she walked down the garden with her to the gate, she told
her of her mother's parting advice, that when it was necessary to speak
to the servants, she should first of all make quite sure she was in the
right herself, and then assert her authority decisively, so that there
might be no doubt about her intention of being obeyed.
In spite of her brave words, however, Ella felt her courage ebbing away
as Mrs. Mobberly disappeared in the distance, and she had to summon up
all her resolution and give her orders at once, before it all
evaporated.
The servants listened to what she had to say in perfect silence, and
after waiting in vain for a reply, she had to leave them, feeling very
much discomfited, but no sooner was she safely within the shelter of the
breakfast-room than their tongues were loosed, and she heard their loud,
rude voices angrily discussing what she had said, and declaring they
would not put up with such interference, and adding, to Ella's dismay,
in almost the very words she herself had used before leaving home, that
"she was a fine one to come ordering them about, for they did not
believe she even knew how to boil a potato." Poor Ella felt very much
hurt, for she had tried to speak kindly though firmly, and she had
flattered herself that they had not discovered her ignorance.
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