FAITHFUL SERVICE EE WARDED. 329 



manner, and from that time the two ladies, from their gentle, 

 unremitting attentions, became two ministering angels in his 

 sight. 



" Ah, my dear, kind friends," exclaimed the old man, a few 

 days after their arrival, " how many happy years have I lost, by 

 not being acquainted with you before, and all owing to my old- 

 fashioned, crabbed habits, in living more like a hermit in his 



cell than a reasonable being:." 



© 



Finding his end drawing near, the Earl sent for a legal 

 adviser, and made great alterations in his will, appointing Mr. 

 Beauchamp and his son sole executors, and bequeathing (after a 

 few legacies to distant connections and his old domestics) the 

 residue of his personal estate, amounting to upwards of two 

 hundred thousand pounds in the funds, to Constance. William 

 Beauchamp having become a great favourite, was sent for to the 

 Earl's private room, to ascertain his views on particular points, 

 and to be entrusted with some confidential communications. 



" I wish to know, my young friend, your opinion how the 



services of my old faithful servants should be rewarded, and to 



see if your ideas agree with mine. The old housekeeper will 



want another home when I am gone." 



© 



"No, my lord," replied Beauchamp, "that she shall never 

 require as long as she prefers remaining here. My father and 

 myself will never dismiss one of your old favourites. The butler, 

 housekeeper, head keeper, and gardener shall never leave their 

 present situations, except at their own desire." 



" But I have left each of them a hundred a-year after my 

 decease." 



" Well, my lord," replied Beauchamp, " I think they well 

 deserve it ; and should they prefer living by themselves, instead 

 of occupying their present apartments in the castle (in which it 

 is our wish to continue them), we will add another fifty pounds 

 yearly to each, in the place of wages." 



" Then, my dear boy, there are my old pets, horses, dogs, 

 and I know not what, and the books and furniture in my own 

 sitting-room, which I do not wish removed." 



" All shall remain in their present position, my dear lord — 

 even the sparrows at your window shall not be molested. But 

 why trouble yourself with these harrowing details 1 for believe 

 me, on the word of a true Beauchamp, every wish of your heart 

 shall be religiously observed by my father and myself. Give 

 me only your instructions, and they shall be carefully carried 

 out." 



