We can live on very little, and every spare shilling we
will put into the savings-bank, until it amounts to a sufficient sum
to buy Luke off.' She then industriously resumed her work. It was
some time before Mrs Damerel could comprehend the full intent and
meaning of the sacrifice the girl proposed. At first she thought it
was a mere flighty resolution, that would not hold long; and even
when she was made to understand that it was unshaken, she looked at
the achievement as impossible; for at that time the prices for
lace-work were falling, in consequence of the recent introduction of
machinery.
About a week after this all her doubts vanished, for, on
Michaelmas-day, when Lucy's term of service with Farmer Modbury
expired, sure enough she brought her box, and declared she had come
to stay with her adopted mother. She had previously been to a
master-manufacturer in Honiton with a specimen of her lace, and it
was so well approved, that she obtained a commission for a large
quantity on the spot.
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