. He received her in an elegant house
in the vicinity of Portman Square, which in this brief time he had
handsomely furnished and provided with servants. Amy entered it with
a sickening heart; and, as he led her from room to room, demanding
her approbation, she felt more disposed to weep than to rejoice.

'Amy,' he said, when they were quite alone in the room designed for
his studio, 'you are to reign mistress here; but be careful never to
drop a hint regarding the humble manner in which you have lived for
so many years; no one must surmise that we have been in poverty, or
our ruin is certain. I intend giving an entertainment to my friends a
few nights hence, and then I shall introduce you to society; meantime
I expect that you will provide yourself with elegant and appropriate
attire for the occasion; for on you much of my success may depend.'

'On me!' Amy exclaimed in astonishment; then recollecting herself,
she added: 'If you mean on my exertions, father, you may still depend
upon them.'

'No, I do not mean your exertions, though at present I must avail
myself of your assistance; but I mean by the manner in which you
receive my friends. Amy,' he continued, looking steadily in his
daughter's face, 'you are possessed of uncommon beauty; you are
doubtless aware of it. Herbert Lyddiard has not failed, I daresay, to
tell you so. A beautiful young woman is at all times a powerful
attraction, and to me it is everything, to extend the circle of my
acquaintances.'

Amy's cheek, which had been flushed by the former part of this
speech, turned deadly pale at its conclusion. How could she, who had
all her life been shut out from society, entertain her father's male
guests--she, a retiring and almost ignorant girl, without one female
friend or adviser? She did not speak; but Beaufort saw that powerful
feelings were agitating her breast, and strove to laugh away what he
termed her foolish fears.

'A few evenings will dispel all your _mauvaise honte_,' he gaily
said. 'I will hear of no silly objections;' and, thrusting a purse
of gold into her hand, he left the room.

Amy could scarcely realise the truth of the position in which she
stood. The events of the last few days seemed like a dream; but if
so, it was a dream from which she would have been glad to have
awakened, and to have found herself in her former humble home. She
could not but fear that all her father possessed was held upon a very
uncertain tenure, and, what