Read it through once

Thus reassured, Miss Mitford renewed her hopeful outlook on life, and the month following was gratified by the receipt of an offer to edit _Finden’s Tableaux_, a large and handsome quarto publication of a style common to those days, embellished with extremely beautiful full-page steel engravings by the first artists, round which were written descriptive poetry or prose by writers chosen from the front ranks in Literature. The production of these volumes was very costly, being bound in full leather, lavishly tooled, and they were primarily intended to lie upon drawing-room tables for the amusement and pleasure of visitors. Miss Mitford was, of course, delighted with the offer and gladly accepted it, and one of her first editorial letters was addressed to her “Sweet Love,” Miss Barrett, requesting a poem, the payment for which was to be £5. The poem was supplied—it was entitled _A Romance of the Ganges_, and was the first of a goodly number of similar contributions which Miss Barrett supplied to her friend’s order. “Depend upon it,” wrote Miss Mitford, “the time will come when those verses of yours will have a money value,” a prophecy which, happily, was fulfilled.