as careless of display, and perfectly happy as
long as she was the guest of the grandmother, but she had no
comprehension of petty tidinesses or small economies. Now James,
brought up on a very different scale, knew in detail how the household
ought to live, and made it a duty not to exceed a fixed sum. He had
the eye for neatness that she wanted; he could not believe it a
hardship to go without indulgences to which his grandmother and sister
had not been accustomed. Thus, he protested against unnecessary fires;
Isabel shivered and wore shawls; he was hurt at seeming to misuse her,
resigned his study fire, and still found the coals ever requiring to be
renewed, insisted that his wife should speak to the cook, and mystified
her by talking about the regulation of the draught of the kitchen fire;
and when Isabel understood, she forgot the lecture.

He was a devoted and admiring husband, but he could not coolly discover
innumerable petty neglects and wasteful habits. Impatient words broke
out, and Isabel always received them so meekly that he repented and
apologized; and in the reconciliation the subject was forgotten, but
only to be revived another time. Isabel was always ready to give warm
aid and sympathy in all his higher cares and purposes, and her mild
tranquillity was repose and soothing to him, but she was like one in a
dream. She had married a vision of perfection, and entered on a
romance of happy poverty, and she had no desire to awaken; so she never
exerted her mind upon the world around her, when it seemed oppressive;
and kept the visionary James Frost before her, in company with Adeline
and the transformed Sir Hubert. It was much easier to line his tent
with a tapestry of Maltese crosses, than to consider whether the hall
should be covered with cocoanut matting.

How Christmas passed with Clara, may be seen in the following letter:--

'Cheveleigh, Jan. 1851.

'Dearest Jem,--I can write a long letter to-night, for a fortunate cold
has spared me from one of Sir Andrew's dinner-parties. It is a
reminiscence of the last ball, partly brought on by compunction at
having dragged poor granny thither, in consideration of my unguarded
declaration of intense dislike to be chaperoned by Lady Britton. Granny
looks glorious in black velvet and diamonds, and I do trust that her
universal goodwill rendered the ball more tolerable to her than it was
to me. She, at least, is all she seems; whereas I am so infested