Cashel Byron's Profession

Bashville bowed, and said in a low voice, very nervously, that he

had no intention of going into service again, but that he should

always be proud of her good opinion.

"You are fitted for better things," she said. "If you embark in any

enterprise requiring larger means than you possess, I will be your

security. I thank you for your invariable courtesy to me in the

discharge of your duties. Good-bye."

She bowed to him and left the room. Bashville, awestruck, returned

her salutation as best he could, and stood motionless after she

disappeared; his mind advancing on tiptoe to grasp what had just

passed. His chief sensation was one of relief. He no longer dared to

fancy himself in love with such a woman. Her sudden consideration

for him as a suitor overwhelmed him with a sense of his unfitness

for such a part. He saw himself as a very young, very humble, and

very ignorant man, whose head had been turned by a pleasant place

and a kind mistress. Wakened from his dream, he stole away to pack

his trunk, and to consider how best to account to his

fellow-servants for his departure.