But she had never seen a day of dependence.

Deft hands, infallible taste in matters of dress, invincible cheerfulness, and swift industry made her always valuable.

She had not been content to live in the house of her aunt, the first Mrs.Plausaby, as a dependent, and she even refused to remain in the undefined relation of a member of the family whose general utility, in some sort, roughly squares the account of board and clothes at the year's end.

Whether or not she had any suspicions in regard to the transactions of Plausaby, Esq., in the matter of her patrimony, I do not know.

She may have been actuated by nothing but a desire to have her independence apparent.