eturning through the lonely burial-ground;
or when the blind host clung to his fireside, and composed himself to
sleep, Philip would saunter forth along with Fanny; and on the days when
she went to sell her work, or select her purchases, he always made a
point of attending her. And her cheek wore a flush of pride when she saw
him carrying her little basket, or waiting without, in musing patience,
while she performed her commissions in the shops. Though in reality
Fanny's intellect was ripening within, yet still the surface often
misled the eye as to the depths. It was rather that something yet held
back the faculties from their growth than that the faculties themselves
were wanting. Her weakness was more of the nature of the infant's than
of one afflicted with incurable imbecility. For instance, she managed
the little household with skill and prudence; she could calculate in her
head, as rapidly as Vaudemont himself, the arithmetic necessary to her
simple duties; she knew the value of money, which is more than some
of us wise folk do. Her skill, even in her infancy so remarkable,
in various branches of female handiwork, was carried, not only by
perseverance, but by invention and peculiar talent, to a marvellous and
exquisite perfection. Her embroidery, especially in what was then more
rare than at present, viz., flowers on silk, was much in request among
the great modistes of London, to whom it found its way through the
agency of Miss Semper. So that all this had enabled her, for years,
to provide every necessary comfort of life for herself and her blind
protector. And her care for the old man was beautiful in its minuteness,
its vigilance. Wherever her heart was interested, there never seemed
a deficiency of mind. Vaudemont was touched to see how much of
affectionate and pitying respect she appeared to enjoy in the
neighbourhood, especially among the humbler classes--even the beggar who
swept the crossings did not beg of her, but bade God bless her as she
passed; and the rude, discontented artisan would draw himself from the
wall and answer, with a softened brow, the smile with which the harmless
one charmed his courtesy. In fact, whatever attraction she took from
her youth, her beauty, her misfortune, and her affecting industry, was
heightened, in the eyes of the poorer neighbours, by many little traits
of charity and kindness; many a sick child had she tended, and many a
breadless board had stolen something from the st