lived a widow and her son. The old woman had, till her sight failed
her, not only earned a sufficient livelihood, but had saved a little
money, by making that kind of lace for the manufacture of which
Honiton is so widely famed. When, from the infirmities of age, she
could no longer ply her vocation successfully, it happened
fortunately that her son, by his labour as a farm-servant, was able
to make up the deficiency. He was a fine spirited young fellow, who
went through his laborious occupations with a good-will and
cheerfulness which was so satisfactory to his employer that he
determined to advance, whenever opportunities offered, so assiduous
a servant and good a son.

Some two years before our story opens, it happened that a young
woman, the daughter of a decayed farmer in the southern part of the
county, came to superintend the dairy of Luke Damerel's master. It
was not unnatural that the buxom lass and the young man should form a
mutual attachment. As they were both very well-conducted persons,
their love passages were looked upon with a favourable eye both by
Dame Damerel and by the farmer's wife, Mrs Modbury, though neither
openly sanctioned it, for prudence' sake. Luke and Lucy, however,
loved on, as they thought, in secret, determining not to reveal their
mutual affection till they should be placed in circumstances to get
married. Things remained thus for more than a year and a half, when
Farmer Modbury's wife died, and other circumstances occurred which
induced him to promote Luke to a more lucrative and responsible
situation on the farm. Shortly after the demise of his wife also, he
found it expedient to give Lucy, in addition to her dairy duties, the
sole charge of the housekeeping.

With the rise in his fortunes, Luke's thoughts were directed to the