ed from
various observations, that, although not rich, he was comfortably off:
but somehow or other, without appearing in the least inquisitive, he
managed to obtain the minutest information he required. In this way,
he learned all the particulars respecting Miss Marion; and gathered
also from me, my own desire of obtaining a situation, such as I had
held at Mr Dacre's, but in a small and well-regulated household. As to
Miss Marion, the kind old gentleman could never shew kindness enough
to her; and he watched the returning roses on her fair cheeks with a
solicitude scarcely exceeded by mine. I never wondered at anybody
admiring and loving the sweet, patient girl; but Mr Budge's admiration
and apparent affection so far exceeded the bounds of mere conventional
kindness in a stranger, that sometimes I even smilingly conjectured he
had the idea of asking her to become Mrs Budge, for he was a widower,
as he told us, and childless.

Such an idea, however, had never entered Miss Marion's innocent heart;
and she, always so grateful for any little attention, was not likely
to receive with coldness those so cordially lavished on her by her new
friend, whom she valued as a truly good man, and not for a polished
exterior, in which Mr Budge was deficient. Nay, so cordial was their
intimacy, and so much had Miss Marion regained health and
cheerfulness, that with unwonted sportiveness, on more than one
occasion she actually hid the ponderous brown snuff-box, usually
reposing in Mr Budge's capacious pocket, and only produced it when his
distress became real; whereupon he chuckled and laughed, as if she had
performed a mighty clever feat, indulging at the same time, however,
in a double pinch.

Some pleasant weeks to us all had thus glided away, and Miss Marion
was earnestly consulting me about her project of governessing, her
health being now so restored; and I, for my part, wanted to execute my
plans for obtaining a decent livelihood, as I could not think of
burdening Thomas and Martha any longer, loath as they were for me to
leave them. Some pleasant weeks, I say, had thus glided away, when Mr
Budge, with much ceremony and circumlocution, as if he had deeply
pondered the matter, and considered it very weighty and important,
made a communication which materially changed and brightened my
prospects. It was to the effect, that an intimate friend of his, whom
he had known, he said, all his life, required the immediate services
of a t