This hope was, as a matter of course, never destined to be realized. During the four years of his sojourn in the picturesque little village the man slowly but steadily deteriorated, and he was not much to begin with. The bouts of drinking became more frequent and more sustained. And no doubt his hand lost much of its cunning, for their fortunes, never very bright, seemed to grow more clouded. His own appearance grew shabbier every year, and the bright, handsome girl was hard put to it to maintain her early smartness. No doubt the major portion of what he earned went to defray the cost of his most expensive vice. From the very beginning they lived in the most frugal manner; they kept no resident servant, a woman of the village coming for a few hours in the morning to do the rough work. This elegant, refined-looking girl who seemed born to grace a palace, prepared and cooked their simple and inexpensive food, and performed other distasteful and incongruous domestic tasks. Yet withal she always carried herself like a young queen, had always a cheerful word and smile for the few people with whom she grew to exchange greetings. However much her life with this impossible and selfish father disgusted her, however deeply the iron entered her soul, she never spoke of her private sorrows and disappointments, or showed them in her demeanour. “You see, sir, to my way of thinking,” explained the honest head-waiter, and there was a suspicion of moisture in his little, bright old eyes as he spoke, “to my way of thinking it was a cruel piece of work, knowing the kind of man he was, as he must have known, to bring a young girl like that to a peddling place like this; she just eat her heart out in that poor little cottage. You see, sir, they were neither fish, flesh nor fowl, in a homely way of speaking. They were too good for the ordinary folk about here, and of course the gentry wouldn’t look at them.” Sellars agreed, well knowing the aloofness of country society. He could not help contrasting the two pictures, Lettice Larchester preparing and serving her father’s cheap meals in that cramped cottage, Mrs. Morrice doing the honours of her luxurious home in Deanery Street with the calm and gracious dignity of one to the manner born. The girl must have had grit in her, despite the terrible handicap of that callous and selfish father. Mr. Dobbs proceeded with his vivid narrative. The county young ladies, if they met her in their walks, looked over her head. Some of the county young men ogled her rudely and tried to scrape acquaintance with her, but the girl kept herself to herself and gave them no encouragement, although her heart must have ached for companionship.