would see only those who loved
him well enough--in their several stations and degrees--to respect his
humour, to ask no questions, to leave him to himself. Richard was
gentle in manner at this period, courteous, humorous even. But a great
discouragement was upon him. It seemed as though some string had
snapped, leaving half his nature broken, unresponsive, and dumb. He had
no ambitions, no desire of activities. Sport and business, were as
little to his mind as society.

More than this.--At first the excuse of fatigue had served him, but
very soon it came to be a tacitly admitted fact that Richard did not
leave the house. Surely it was large enough, he said, to afford space
for all the exercise he needed? Refusing to occupy his old suite of
rooms on the ground-floor, he had sent orders, before his arrival, that
the smaller library, adjoining the Long-Gallery, should be converted
into a bedchamber for him. It had been Richard's practice, when on
board ship, to steady his uncertain footsteps, on the slippery or
slanting plane of the deck, by the use of crutches. And this practice
he in great measure retained. It increased his poor powers of
locomotion. It rendered him more independent. Sometimes, when secure
that Lady Calmady would not receive visitors, he would make his way by
the large library, the state drawing-room, and stair-head, to the
Chapel-Room and sit with her there. But more often his days were spent
exclusively in the Long-Gallery. He had brought home many curious and
beautiful objects from his wanderings. He would add these to the
existing collection. He would examine the books too, procure such
volumes as were needed to complete any imperfect series, and, in the
departments both of science, literature, and travel, bring the library
up to date. He would devote his leisure to the study of various
subjects--especially natural science--regarding which he was conscious
of a knowledge, deficient, or merely empirical.

"I really am perfectly contented, mother," he said to Lady Calmady more
than once. "Look at the length and breadth of the gallery! It is as a
city of magnificent distances, after the deck of the dear, old yacht
and my twelve-foot cabin. And I'm not a man calculated to occupy so
very much space after all! Let me potter about here with my books and
my _bibelots_. Don't worry about me, I shall keep quite well, I promise
you. Let me hybernate peacefully until spring, anyhow. I have plenty of
occupation