ugly as four
square walls could be. The woods had grown up about it, and hid it almost
entirely from sight, which was an advantage, perhaps, to the landscape,
but not to those who were condemned to dwell in the house, which was
without light and air and everything that was cheering. The name of the
Warren was very well adapted to the place, which, except one corner of
the old house which had stood fast when the rest was pulled down, might
almost have been a burrow in the soft green earth, damp and warm and
full of the mould of ages, though it was a mere new-comer in the world.
Its furniture was almost entirely of the same date as the house, which
means dingy carpets, curtains of harsh and unpliable stuff, and immense
catafalques of mahogany in the shape of sideboards, arm-chairs, and
beds. A four-poster of mahogany, with hangings of red moreen, as stiff
as a board and much less soft,--that was the kind of furnishing; to be
sure, it was full of feather-beds and pillows, warm blankets and fresh
linen, which some people thought made amends.

The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Warrender, two daughters, and the
son, with whom the reader has already made acquaintance. How he had
found his way into such a nest was one of those problems which the
prudent evolutionist scarcely cares to tackle. The others were in their
natural place: the father a Warrender like the last dozen Warrenders who
had gone before him, and the girls cast exactly in the mould of all the
previous Minnies and Chattys of the family. They were all dull, blameless,
and good--to a certain extent; perfectly satisfied to live in the Warren
all the year long, to spend every evening of their lives round the same
hearth, to do the same thing to-day as they had done yesterday and should
do to-morrow. To be so easily contented, to accommodate one's self with
such philosophy to one's circumstances,--what an advantage that is!
But it required no philosophy on the part of the girls, who had not
imagination enough to think of anything different, and who devoutly
believed that nothing on earth was so virtuous, so dignified, so
praiseworthy, as to keep the linen in order, and make your own
underclothing, and sit round the fire at home. When any one would read
aloud to them they wanted no better paradise; but they were not very
exacting even in the matter of reading aloud. However exciting the
book might be, they were quite willing that it should be put away at a
quarter t