the habit of seeking help from no one,
she had always the power of assisting others, and in this doing for
others she always found renewed strength.

From the day on which Fraeulein Milch made that communication to her, it
had been different; she performed only mechanically the duties which
had previously been executed with such freedom and animation.

From that day forth, she had determined to keep clear of every
luxurious indulgence which this ostentatious man might feel like
putting in her way, and this she would do in a modest and retiring
manner; from that day forth she looked upon herself as a traveller
receiving temporary hospitalities, for all the home feeling of comfort
had been taken away from her. She was prepared at any hour to pack up
all that she possessed, and all that was arranged in such a quiet way
about her, and remove to some other place.

She had never in her life been troubled by regret, she had done nothing
for which she could reproach herself, or the memory of which was to be
effaced; but now she was beset by a constant feeling of regret.

Why had she been so thoughtless as to connect herself with such a
mysterious and disintegrated family?

Joy and grief affected her by turns, like one suffering under the
delirium of fever.

Eric's happiness in loving Manna and being so deeply loved, which
before had excited within her such a blissful pleasure, she now
listened to and looked upon with an almost forced interest; and when
Bella had so deeply mortified her, she could scarcely make any
resistance, for it seemed to her as if it concerned someone else, and
had no relation to herself. Thus she lived estranged from herself, but
made no complaint, hoping that everything would right itself. She had
no idea that there was an inward disturbance and distraction which
would show itself on the first favorable opportunity. Now, when the
needy declined charity at her hands, that inexpressible sadness, so
long hidden and repressed, broke forth. It seemed to her inexplicable
that her only son, her all in this world, was to be engrafted into this
family.

The Doctor had found the Mother in a state of febrile excitement; he
gave her a composing draught; but the opinion which he expressed before
Eric, Manna, and Roland, had a still more quieting effect. The Mother
complained that she had never known how much people could be at
variance with themselves and with others. The Doctor replied, with a
smile, that p