the indignation of the inn-porters, who were of a later generation, he
would wheel it himself to the Parsonage, though he broke down from
fatigue once or twice on the way, and had to stand and rest, his ladies
waiting by his side, and making remarks on the alterations of houses and
the places of trees, in order to give him ample time to recruit himself,
for there was no one to wait for them and give them a welcome to the
Parsonage, which was to be their temporary home. The respectful
servants, in deep mourning, had all prepared, and gave Ellinor a note
from Mr. Brown, saying that he purposely refrained from disturbing them
that day after their long journey, but would call on the morrow, and tell
them of the arrangements he had thought of making, always subject to Miss
Wilkins's approval.

These were simple enough; certain legal forms to be gone through, any
selection from books or furniture to be made, and the rest to be sold by
auction as speedily as convenient, as the successor to the living might
wish to have repairs and alterations effected in the old parsonage. For
some days Ellinor employed herself in business in the house, never going
out except to church. Miss Monro, on the contrary, strolled about
everywhere, noticing all the alterations in place and people, which were
never improvements in her opinion. Ellinor had plenty of callers (her
tenants, Mr. and Mrs. Osbaldistone among others), but, excepting in rare
cases--most of them belonged to humble life--she declined to see every
one, as she had business enough on her hands: sixteen years makes a great
difference in any set of people. The old acquaintances of her father in
his better days were almost all dead or removed; there were one or two
remaining, and these Ellinor received; one or two more, old and infirm,
confined to their houses, she planned to call upon before leaving Hamley.
Every evening, when Dixon had done his work at Mr. Osbaldistone's, he
came up to the Parsonage, ostensibly to help her in moving or packing
books, but really because these two clung to each other--were bound to
each other by a bond never to be spoken about. It was understood between
them that once before Ellinor left she should go and see the old place,
Ford Bank. Not to go into the house, though Mr. and Mrs. Osbaldistone
had begged her to name her own time for revisiting it when they and their
family would be absent, but to see all the gardens and grounds once more;
a solem