Butmyfather，I’msure，hastakenupsomenotionof—nevermind；onlytheendofitisthatheholdsOsbornestillintacitdisgrace，andismiserablehimselfallthetime。Osborne，too，issoreandunhappy，andestrangedfrommyfather。Itisjustwhatmymotherwouldhaveputrightverysoon，andperhapsyoucouldhavedoneit—unconsciously，Imean—
forthiswretchedmysterythatOsbornepreservesabouthisaffairsisattherootofitall。Butthere’snousetalkingaboutit；Idon’tknowwhyIbegan。’Then，withawrench，changingthesubject，whileMollystillthoughtofwhathehadbeentellingher，hebrokeout，—’Ican’ttellyouhowmuchIlikeMissKirkpatrick，Molly。Itmustbeagreatpleasuretoyouhavingsuchacompanion！’’Yes，’saidMolly，halfsmiling。’I’mveryfondofher；andIthinkIlikeherbettereverydayIknowher。Buthowquicklyyouhavefoundouthervirtues！’’Ididn’tsay\"virtues，\"didI？’askedhe，reddening，butputtingthequestioninallgoodfaith。’YetIdon’tthinkonecouldbedeceivedinthatface。
AndMrsGibsonappearstobeaveryfriendlyperson，—shehasaskedOsborneandmetodinehereonFriday。’’Bitterbeer’cameintoMolly’smind；butwhatshesaidwas，’Andareyoucoming？’’Certainly，Iam，unlessmyfatherwantsme；andI’vegivenMrsGibsonaconditionalpromiseforOsbornetoo。SoIshallseeyouallverysoonagain。ButImustgonow。Ihavetokeepanappointmentsevenmilesfromhereinhalfanhour’stime。Goodlucktoyourflower—garden，Molly。’
chapter22CHAPTERXXIITHEOLDSQUIRE’STROUBLESAffairsweregoingonworseattheHallthanRogerhadlikedtotell。Moreover，verymuchofthediscomforttherearosefrom’meremanner，’aspeopleexpressit，whichisalwaysindescribableandindefinable。QuietandpassiveasMrsHamleyhadalwaysbeeninappearance，shewastherulingspiritofthehouseaslongasshelived。Thedirectionstotheservants，downtothemostminuteparticulars，camefromhersitting—room，orfromthesofaonwhichshelay。Herchildrenalwaysknewwheretofindher；andtofindher，wastofindloveandsympathy。Herhusband，whowasoftenrestlessandangryfromonecauseoranother，alwayscametohertobesmootheddownandputright。Hewasconsciousofherpleasantinfluenceoverhim，andbecameatpeacewithhimselfwheninherpresence；justasachildisatcasewhenwithsomeonewhoisbothfirmandgentle。Butthekeystoneofthefamilyarchwasgone，andthestonesofwhichitwascomposedbegantofallapart。Itisalwayssadwhenasorrowofthiskindseemstoinjurethecharacterofthemourningsurvivors。Yet，perhaps，thisinjurymaybeonlytemporaryorsuperficial；thejudgmentssoconstantlypasseduponthewaypeoplebearthelossofthosewhomtheyhavedeeplyloved，appeartobeevenmorecruel，andwronglymetedout，thanhumanjudgmentsgenerallyare。Tocarelessobservers，forinstance，itwouldseemasthoughthesquirewasrenderedmorecapriciousandexacting，morepassionateandauthoritative，byhiswife’sdeath。Thetruthwas，thatitoccurredatatimewhenmanythingscametoharasshim，andsometobitterlydisappointhim；andshewasnolongertheretowhomheusedtocarryhissoreheartforthegentlebalmofhersweetwords。Sothesoreheartachedandsmartedinternally；
andoften，whenhesawhowhisviolentconductaffectedothers，hecouldhavecriedoutfortheirpity，insteadoftheirangerandresentment：’Havemercyuponme，forIamverymiserable。’Howoftenhavesuchdumbthoughtsgoneupfromtheheartsofthosewhohavetakenholdoftheirsorrowbythewrongend，asprayersagainstsin！Andwhenthesquiresawthathisservantswerelearningtodreadhim，andhisfirst—borntoavoidhim，hedidnotblamethem。Heknewhewasbecomingadomestictyrant；itseemedasifallcircumstancesconspiredagainsthim，andasifhewastooweaktostrugglewiththem；else，whydideverythingindoorsandout—of—doorsgosowrongjustnow，whenallhecouldhavedone，hadthingsbeenprosperous，wastohavesubmitted，inveryimperfectpatience，tothelossofhiswife？