upervised all the arrangements, if there were any that they did not
make, received the guests who came from a distance, and aided their
departure. Every child in Surrey was allowed to come in, to look at
the dead, with the idle curiosity of childhood. Veronica knew nothing
of this. Her course was taken for granted; mine was imposed upon me.
I remonstrated with Temperance, but she replied that it was all well
meant, and always done. I endured the same annoyances over and over
again, from relays of people. Bed-time especially was their occasion.
I was not allowed to undress alone. I must have drinks, either to
compose or stimulate; I must have something read to me; I must be
watched when I slept, or I must be kept awake to give advice or be
told items of news. All the while, like a chorus, they reiterated the
character, the peculiarities, the virtues of the mother I had lost,
who could never be replaced--who was in a better world. However, I
was, in a measure, kept from myself during this interval. The matter
is often subservient to the manner. Arthur's feelings were played upon
also. He wept often, confiding to me his grief and his plans for the
future. "If people would die at the age of seventy-five, things would
go well," he said, "for everybody must expect to die then; the Bible
says so." He informed me also that he expected to be an architect, and
that mother liked it. He had an idea, which he had imparted to her, of
an arch; it must be made of black marble, with gold veins, and ought
to stand in Egypt, with the word "_Pandemonium_" on it. The kitchen
was the focus of interest to him, for meals were prepared at all hours
for comers and goers. Temperance told me that the mild and indifferent
mourners were fond of good victuals, and she thought their hearts were
lighter than their stomachs when they went away. She presided there
and wrangled with Fanny, who seemed to have lost her capacity for
doing anything steadily, except, as Temperance said, where father was
concerned. "It's a pity she isn't his dog; she might keep at his
feet then. I found her crying awfully yesterday, because he looked so
grief-struck."

Aunt Merce was engaged with a dressmaker, and with the orders for
bonnets and veils. She discussed the subject of the mourning with the
Morgesons. I acquiesced in all her arrangements, for she derived a
simple comfort from these external tokens. Veronica refused to wear
the bonnet and veil and the required bombaz