.

"No wonder you are affected by the recollection of all his benefits. But
when once you have seen him, you will find yourself ever after at your
ease. And so, pray, smile and look as good as you are; for I am proud of
your open, honest look when you are pleased, mother. And he must see your
heart in your face as I do."

With this, Leonard put his arm round the widow's neck and kissed her. She
clung to him fondly for a moment, and he felt her tremble from head to
foot. Then she broke from his embrace, and hurried out of the room.
Leonard thought perhaps she had gone to improve her dress, or to carry her
housewife energies to the decoration of the other rooms; for "the house"
was Mrs. Fairfield's hobby and passion; and now that she worked no more,
save for her amusement, it was her main occupation. The hours she
contrived to spend daily in bustling about those little rooms, and leaving
every thing therein to all appearance precisely the same, were among the
marvels in life which the genius of Leonard had never comprehended. But
she was always so delighted when Mr. Norreys or some rare visitor came,
and said (Mr. Norreys never failed to do so), "How neatly all is kept
here. What could Leonard do without you, Mrs. Fairfield?"

And, to Norreys's infinite amusement, Mrs. Fairfield always returned the
same answer. "'Deed, sir, and thank you kindly, but 'tis my belief that
the drawin'-room would be awful dusty."

Once more left alone, Leonard's mind returned to the state of reverie, and
his face assumed the expression that had now become to it habitual. Thus
seen, he was changed much since we last beheld him. His cheek was more
pale and thin, his lips more firmly compressed, his eye more fixed and
abstract. You could detect, if I may borrow a touching French expression,
that "sorrow had passed by there." But the melancholy on his countenance
was ineffably sweet and serene, and on his ample forehead there was that
power, so rarely seen in early youth--the power that has conquered, and
betrays its conquests but in calm. The period of doubt, of struggle, of
defiance, was gone forever; genius and soul were reconciled to human life.
It was a face most lovable; so gentle and peaceful in its character. No
want of fire; on the contrary, the fire was so clear and so steadfast,
that it conveyed but the impression of light. The candor of boyhood, the
simplicity of the villager were still there--refined by intelligence, but
intelligen