ood-natured indolence, and his social qualities, had not, in
the end, proved too much for his undoubted talent. Being possessed of
small private means, he would probably have remained an amateur, seeing,
not only without a particle of envy, but with a smile of positive
encouragement, others far less able than himself, pass him on the road
of art, and occupy pedestals which ought to have been his. One evening
meeting Miss Milburd at an artistic reunion, she overheard him express
his admiration of her classical lineaments. Being mistress of her own
fortunes, and of her own fortune, she simply determined to many Mr.
Regniati; and did so. She foresaw his future greatness. She looked
forward to his name being enrolled among those whom art has made
illustrious. She was doomed to disappointment.

[Illustration: MADAME REGNIATI. (_From a
Classical Portrait in her own possession._)]

[Illustration: MADAME REGNIATI (_in fact_).]

Transplanted to British soil, the Signor found himself a gentleman at
large. He abandoned the chisel for the gun, and prided himself upon
becoming a sportsman and an agriculturist. From the moment of his being
thus thoroughly acclimatised, Madame Regniati gave him up, so to speak,
then and there, as a bad job. The Signor's private means were not
anything like enough to supply his peculiarly English tastes, and his
wife would not "fritter _her_ money away," she said, "in pigsties."

So she decided upon giving up their rural retreat which she had chosen
for the purpose of affording Mr. Regniati every opportunity of communing
with nature, and took him up to London. Here she obtained a small house,
with a studio, built out at the back by its previous artistic occupant,
where she fondly hoped Mr. Regniati would once more devote himself to
the study of the fine arts.

Her husband now appeared to be inclined towards her way of thinking. The
more, because his funds were in her hands, and she "allowanced" him.

He commenced a group, several sizes larger than life, of _The Judgment
of Paris_.

The process was slow, and, apparently, far from inexpensive. Moreover it
was excessively fatiguing, and Madame, proud of her husband's design,
and sanguine as to his future, willingly permitted the Signor to take
occasional relaxation in the country.

He was obliged to come to her from time to time for money. The allowance
was insufficient.

This gradually aroused her suspic