'
'On me!' Amy exclaimed in astonishment; then recollecting herself,
she added: 'If you mean on my exertions, father, you may still depend
upon them.'
'No, I do not mean your exertions, though at present I must avail
myself of your assistance; but I mean by the manner in which you
receive my friends. Amy,' he continued, looking steadily in his
daughter's face, 'you are possessed of uncommon beauty; you are
doubtless aware of it. Herbert Lyddiard has not failed, I daresay, to
tell you so. A beautiful young woman is at all times a powerful
attraction, and to me it is everything, to extend the circle of my
acquaintances.'
Amy's cheek, which had been flushed by the former part of this
speech, turned deadly pale at its conclusion. How could she, who had
all her life been shut out from society, entertain her father's male
guests--she, a retiring and almost ignorant girl, without one female
friend or adviser? She did not speak; but Beaufort saw that powerful
feelings were agitating her breast, and strove to laugh away what he
termed her foolish fears.
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