suaded himself that he loved her and intended
to do much, but always in the future, to make
her happy. When his debts had made neces-
sary the sale of Montpellier and its slaves, he
soothed his regrets by building on his estate
nearby, known as "Toddsbirth," a strange
conglomeration of cottages, one of which he
intended for his mother's occupancy, and so
arranged that by one of its long windows she
could enter a great tower wherein lie had
planned a ball-room and state dining-apart-
ment. Of course lack of funds prevented the
completion of this eccentric home, as well as
the carrying out of his scheme for a silk-farm,
for which, after his usual unbusinesslike
fashion, he had brought over from France a
number of silk manufacturers before even plant-
ing mulberry-trees or hatching silk-worms.

His appetite he gratified as freely as his
whims; and while Mrs. Madison and her
devoted niece were struggling to secure the
bare necessaries of life, or dependent upon the
bounty of comparative strangers, Payne Todd
was in the habit of sending to Europe for rare
cheeses and other table luxuries. As a result
of his free indulgence, his face became bloated,
and his free shapeless, and so completely did
his aspect change that few would have recog-

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