panes, admitting so small an amount of light, might have given to
some minds a feeling of gloom; but both mother and daughter had their
occupations, the one in giving, the other in receiving, an education,
beside the care of all the sick and poor peasants of the neighborhood.
Indeed they were so happy in their affection for each other and found so
much to do, that they had neither the time nor the inclination to
cultivate morbid or gloomy thoughts, which would, they felt, make their
companionship an infliction on every one whom they approached, and unfit
them for the duties of their position. So life went on calmly and
happily with them.

A faithful steward attended to the estates and a good old housekeeper
managed the servants, always keeping order, discipline and peace in the
establishment. Twice a year they were allowed to have a dance in the
servants' hall, one at Christmas and the other on Anna's birthday, on
which occasions they invited the sons and daughters of the neighboring
farmers, and the tradespeople who supplied the manor house. The village
shoemaker, the tailor, and the blacksmith were the musicians, and to the
strains of two violins and a clarionet, they merrily danced through the
livelong night, such good old figures as Sir Roger de Coverly, Speed the
Plough, and the Cushion dance, till the rising sun streamed in at the
windows and warned them that it was time to blow out the candles, take
off their holiday garb, and assume their daily work. As for the mistress
of the mansion, she found her pleasures in the duties of her position
and the rich companionship of a well stocked library. She had no
neighbors of her own rank within several miles distance, no one to visit
or to be visited by, with the exception of the old bachelor clergyman of
the parish, whose formal calls took place at stated intervals, unless
some sudden case of want among the poor caused him to ask her aid, for
he knew very well that her heart and hand went forth on every occasion
of distress. Hers it was to soothe and cheer and comfort and help, and
many a thorny path was made smooth and many a heavy burden lifted by her
brave and generous spirit and the pleasant, cheerful way she had of
doing such things. In the presence of others she made a duty of
cultivating cheerfulness of manner. Not that she ever for a moment
forgot the recollection of her love and her loss; but she considered her
sorrows too sacred for a subject of conversation on