zle of the
household; and for this she was herself much to blame.

She restrained all confidence; she would not talk to her father or
brother about the Filmers; she responded to no effort to amuse her,
and she would not permit herself to weep. And as tears and laughter
and mutual confidence are the means appointed to stay life's overflow,
and to give the full heart ease, she missed the natural comforters of
her position. And as she gave no confidence to Antony, Antony also
kept his hopes and doubts, his joys and sorrows, to himself. If
Adriana had spoken to him of Harry, he would have gladly discussed
with her Rose's heart-breaking ways with him--her advances and
retreats, her kindness and her cruelty, her love and her disdain.

But brother and sister alike kept silence, and Peter did not feel at
liberty to comfort uncomplained-of suffering; nor yet to offer advice
in circumstances of which his children presumed him to be either
ignorant or unsympathetic. Nevertheless, he suffered both mentally and
really with them; for most houses adopt more or less of the mental
aspects of the dwellers in them, and the old happy contentment which
had filled Peter's home with sunshine in all weathers was invaded by
many shadows. The order of his life was broken-up, and its very
pleasures were robbed of their sweetness. Dinner-time, and bed-time,
and all the times and seasons of domestic existence went on
undisturbed; and the books were brought out, and Peter read aloud with
even an exaggerated interest; but the heart was out of all Adriana's
duties and amusements; and Peter, try as he would, felt it difficult
to control a feeling of anger against the strangers who had entered
his home only to make those he loved miserable.

For a month Antony vibrated between Woodsome and New York; but finally
he resolved to stay in the city. He said something to his father about
"western securities, and the opportunity he had for making money in
them," but both Peter and Adriana knew that his real object was Rose
Filmer. His desertion had, however, one good result, it made Adriana
feel that she must resume her old companionship with her father. She
could not now suppose that Antony was with him, or that her father was
with Antony, or if they were really together, slip away to her own
room, on the presumption they did not want her company in order to
discuss the country, or the horses, or the best time to plant.

She accepted the duty with much of