of a large income was beyond dispute. But, for aught he knew, she
might be afflicted by every vice to which a woman can be subject. In
truth, she was afflicted by so many, that the addition of all the
others could hardly have made her worse than she was. She had never
sacrificed her beauty to a lover,--she had never sacrificed anything
to anybody,--nor did she drink. It would be difficult, perhaps, to
say anything else in her favour; and yet Lord Fawn was quite content
to marry her, not having seen any reason why she should not make a
good wife! Nor had Sir Florian seen any reason;--but she had broken
Sir Florian's heart.

When the girls heard the news, they were half frightened and half
delighted. Lady Fawn and her daughters lived very much out of the
world. They also were poor rich people,--if such a term may be
used,--and did not go much into society. There was a butler kept at
Fawn Court, and a boy in buttons, and two gardeners, and a man to
look after the cows, and a carriage and horses, and a fat coachman.
There was a cook and a scullery maid, and two lady's maids,--who had
to make the dresses,--and two housemaids and a dairymaid. There was a
large old brick house to be kept in order, and handsome grounds with
old trees. There was, as we know, a governess, and there were seven
unmarried daughters. With such encumbrances, and an income altogether
not exceeding three thousand pounds per annum, Lady Fawn could not be
rich. And yet who would say that an old lady and her daughters could
be poor with three thousand pounds a year to spend? It may be taken
almost as a rule by the unennobled ones of this country, that the
sudden possession of a title would at once raise the price of every
article consumed twenty per cent. Mutton that before cost ninepence
would cost tenpence a pound, and the mouths to be fed would demand
more meat. The chest of tea would run out quicker. The labourer's
work, which for the farmer is ten hours a day, for the squire nine,
is for the peer only eight. Miss Jones, when she becomes Lady de
Jongh, does not pay less than threepence apiece for each "my lady"
with which her ear is tickled. Even the baronet when he becomes a
lord has to curtail his purchases, because of increased price, unless
he be very wide awake to the affairs of the world. Old Lady Fawn, who
would not on any account have owed a shilling which she could not
pay, and who, in the midst of her economies, was not close-fisted,
knew