As it was considered advisable to wean Sarah from old associations she was sent away for a time, and lived "under the protection" of Mrs. Greatheed, of Guy's Cliff in Warwickshire. Some have maintained that she was nursemaid or housemaid; but the terms she was on with her mistress, who presented her with a copy of Milton, precludes that idea, unless, by her smartness and industry, she, within a very short period of her engagement, worked herself into a better position. Campbell also points out that there were no children to be nursed in the Greatheed family at that time. "Her station with them," he continues, "was humble, but not servile, and her principal employment was to read to the elder Mr. Greatheed." The secret history of the green room informs us that she was maid to Lady Mary Bertie, Samuel Greatheed's second wife; and the Duchess of Ancaster told Mrs. Geneste she well remembered Lady Mary once bringing this attractive attendant with her on a visit.
It was remarked that she delighted in reciting fragments of plays for the entertainment of the servants' hall. Lord Robert Bertie was so fond of listening and admiring her declamation, that Lady Mary had to beg of him to desist, and "not encourage the girl to go on the stage." Young Greatheed told Miss Wynn later on that he had often heard Mrs. Siddons read Macbeth when she was his mother's maid.
Lady Mary confessed years afterwards to "Conversation" Sharp, that so queenly was the bearing of the young girl, even at that early age, that she always felt an irresistible inclination to rise from her chair when her maid came to attend her.
We can imagine the romantic girl wandering through
