father. I must
work for him: he is my husband; and, in spite of this dreadful vice, I
love him still.'

"Her constancy and patient endurance under a thousand privations was
wonderful.

"I was reckoned a very pretty girl: all the neighbours said so, and I
thought so myself. They were sorry for our altered circumstances. They
respected my mother; and, though they blamed my father, they pitied him
as well as blamed (he had been a general favourite before he became lost
to himself and us,) and did all in their power to assist my mother in
her distress. One of these sympathising friends was the dressmaker
employed by the great lady of the parish. This woman got me into service
as waiting-maid to the young ladies at the Grange.

"Miss Elinor Landsmeer was on the eve of marriage with Mr. Carlos; and
she used to talk to me a great deal about her lover, while I was
dressing her hair of a night. 'He was so handsome,' she said, 'so
good-natured and merry! He danced and sang so well, rode so gallantly,
and was such a capital shot. He was admired and courted by all the
ladies; and she considered herself the most fortunate girl in the world
to have secured the affections of such a charming young man. And then,
Annie, besides all these advantages of person and manners, he is so
_rich_--so _immensely rich_, he can indulge me in my taste for pictures
and books, and dress, without ruining himself. Oh, I shall be so
happy--so happy!'--and then she would clap her little white hands, and
laugh in childish glee. And very young she was, and very pretty
too,--not a showy sort of beauty, but soft and gentle,--not gay and
dashing, like some of her elder sisters. They were all engaged to men of
rank and fashion; and they laughed at Miss Elinor for marrying an
untitled man. But she was so much in love with Mr. Carlos, that she was
as happy as a lark.

"When I saw Mr. Carlos, I thought she was, indeed, a fortunate young
lady; and I could not help envying her the handsome rich lover who was
so soon to make her his wife.

"I always liked waiting on my pretty young lady; but I felt a double
pleasure in doing so when Mr. Carlos was by. He often joked Miss Elinor
on my good looks, and would ask her 'if she was not jealous of her
pretty waiting-maid?'

"'Oh, no,' she would laughingly reply. 'I am like you, Walter,--I don't
like ugly people about me. Annie is as good as she looks. Cannot you
find a good husband for her among your tenants?'

"'I'