Mr. Richards treated her kindly whenever he chanced to meet her, but his wife and daughter ignored her presence when they could do so; when they could not, they took pains to make her feel her obligations and dependence in the most uncomfortable manner. With Mrs. Blunt she was comparatively happy, for the woman, though brusque and peculiar, was very kind-hearted, seeming to have conceived a great liking for the lonely orphan; and often she would sit up late at night to get the piles of mending out of the way, in order that Star—who was studying very hard to make up for having entered school in the middle of a term—might have more time to herself. Miss Baker, the seamstress, too, was very kind to her, and her Saturdays were often passed very pleasantly in sewing and chatting in the cozy sewing-room. She left home at a quarter to nine in the morning, and did not return until half-past four in the afternoon, taking a luncheon and spending the nooning in the school-room. This was not done on account of the distance, but because the dinner hour at the Richards’ mansion conflicted with the school hours. By staying at noon thus Star gained an hour’s practice on one of the pianos, with no one to interrupt her, and this was a season of unalloyed delight to her. Nothing had been said to her about continuing her music—Mrs. Richards had vetoed all accomplishments on account of the extra expense—but she could not give it up, so pursued a course of faithful practice by herself. Not a moment was wasted. She arose with the dawn, and every morning for an hour she might have been seen bending over her small table, busily engaged in writing or study. All her duties were faithfully performed; beds had never been so well made before, rooms were never so carefully swept and dusted, or so tastefully arranged; and yet one would scarcely have mistrusted her presence in the house, everything was done so quietly and unobtrusively. This general exercise, together with her brisk walk before and after her school, was very beneficial to her health. She grew tall, and round, and rosy, and in beauty every day. Saturdays Miss Baker’s weary face would brighten as Star sat and chatted in a merry, entertaining way, whiling away the long hours, her busy fingers often lightening her labors when there was no sewing to be done for herself, until she began to love the sweet young girl with a deep, warm affection, and to look forward to those weekly diversions almost as if they had been angels’ visits. Star was very tasteful also, and often suggested changes in trimming and the arrangement of drapery, thus making great improvements in her work, while, in spite of Mrs. Richards’ commands that “everything for Miss Gladstone be as plain as respectability would allow,” she took pains to fit the young girl’s figure with great nicety, and added many graceful touches to her otherwise simple dresses.