Towards this amiable woman and her son, the warm affections which had
been pent up in the young heart of our little heroine, since the
death of her mother and infant brother, now gushed forth in copious
streams; for, though she loved her father with a tenderness scarcely
to be expected, and certainly unmerited by one who manifested such
indifference in return, she dared not express her feelings in words
or caresses. Beaufort would usually devote a few of the morning hours
to his profession, and then, growing weary, throw aside his pencil in
disgust, and either wander about the neighbourhood in moody silence,
or spend the rest of the day in the society of a few dissolute
persons of education, with whom he had become acquainted since his
residence in Manchester. The indolence of the parent had, however,
the effect of awakening the latent energies of the daughter's mind;
and young as she was at the time we introduce her to our readers, her
thoughts were engaged upon a scheme which, if successful, would, she
deemed, reinstate them in competence.
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