"A little girl, Barefooted, ragged, with neglected hair, Eyes full of laughter, neck and shoulders bare, A thin slip of a girl, like a new moon, Sure to be rounded into beauty soon, A creature men would worship and adore, Though now, in mean habiliments, she bore A pail of water, dripping, through the street, And bathing, as she went, her naked feet."
The buxom landlady at the inn, "Mistress Stavers in her furbelows," felt called upon to give her sharp reproof:
"'O Martha Hilton! Fie! how dare you go About the town half-dressed, and looking so!' At which the gypsy laughed, and straight replied: 'No matter how I look; I yet shall ride In my own chariot, ma'am.'"
The old Governor was a widower and childless, and in course of time Martha came to be employed at Wentworth House as maid-of-all-work, not wholly unobserved by him, as the sequel proved. He arranged a feast for his sixtieth birthday, and all the great people of the colony were at his table.
"When they had drunk the King, with many a cheer, The Governor whispered in a servant's ear, Who disappeared, and presently there stood Within the room, in perfect womanhood, A maiden, modest and yet self possessed, Youthful and beautiful, and simply dressed. Can this be Martha Hilton? It must be! Yes, Martha Hilton, and no other she! Dowered with the beauty of her twenty years, How lady-like, how queen-like she appears; The pale, thin crescent of the days gone by Is Dian now in all her majesty! Yet scarce a guest perceived that she was there Until the Governor, rising from his chair, Played slightly with his ruffles, then looked down, And said unto the Reverend Arthur Brown: 'This is my birthday; it shall likewise be My wedding day; and you shall marry me!'
"The listening guests were greatly mystified, None more so than the rector, who replied: 'Marry you? Yes, that were a pleasant task, Your Excellency; but to whom? I ask.' The Governor answered: 'To this lady here;' And beckoned Martha Hilton to draw near. She came, and stood, all blushes, at his side. The rector paused. The impatient Governor cried: 'This is the lady; do you hesitate? Then I command you as chief magistrate.' The rector read the service loud and clear: 'Dearly beloved, we are gathered here,' And so on to the end. At his command, On the fourth finger of her fair left hand The Governor placed the ring; and that was all: Martha was Lady Wentworth of the Hall!"