upon her time were now incessant; for Beaufort grew more indolent than ever when he found that she cheerfully took so large a portion of his labour off his hands.  He would frequently sketch an outline, and then leave it for her to finish, without regarding the inroads he was by these means making on his daughter’s health.  Meanwhile, he spent the profits of her toil in luxuries, in which she shared not; still allowing her the miserable pittance which barely kept want from their dwelling, and would not permit of her making, either in her home or her person, an appearance above the humbler class of mechanics.

’We will bid a joyful adieu to this hateful town, and settle again in London,’ the artist exclaimed, as, late one evening, he entered his house in an excited state, after a visit to one of his new patrons.

‘Are you in earnest, papa ?’ Amy asked, whilst the colour forsook her cheek.

‘In earnest, girl?’ he repeated, ’to be sure I am.  I think I have droned here long enough, and it is time that some change took place for the better.  The purchaser of my last picture is a young baronet who has just come into possession of a princely fortune, and, by a little flattery, I have so far got myself into his good graces, that he has promised to provide money to enable me to make a suitable appearance in town:  he says, too, that amongst his acquaintances alone he can procure me sufficient employment, which shall be liberally remunerated.  ‘Tis true,’ Beaufort laughingly added,’ he has no more taste for paintings than his valet, and perhaps not so much; but that matters not:  he thinks that he has, and it is not my place to undeceive him; for, as he is rich and influential, he may be a valuable friend to us.’

Amy listened without making any reply.

‘You are silent, girl?’ her father resumed; ’I thought you would be delighted with the intelligence.  Will you not be glad to exchange this miserable hovel for a handsomely-furnished house?  And you shall have masters to instruct you in dancing, singing, and music; for I expect that you will now have an opportunity of getting settled in the rank of life in which you were born.’

Still Amy replied not.

‘Well, you are the strangest girl I ever met with,’ Beaufort pursued, in tones indicative of rising wrath; ’but I see how it is.  I have suspected as much for some time.  You would rather marry a beggarly clerk.  I can tell you, however, that Herbert Lyddiard is no husband for you, and I positively forbid you to hold any further intercourse with him or his mother.’

‘Oh, father,’ cried Amy in the agony of her feelings, now finding utterance, ’can you require me to be so base as thus to treat a friend who has been to me like a mother?’

’I have no personal objection to the woman, nor to her son either, had I not reason to believe that he aspires to an alliance with you,’ he rejoined; adding:  ’Now hear what I say, girl; I start for London to-morrow, and shall send for you in a few days, during which time I shall get a house prepared for your reception.  Here are the means to provide suitable apparel for the position we shall resume in society; and I expect that you hold yourself in readiness to depart at an hour’s warning.’