Both he and Phyllis glided without effort into
the life which must have been so new to them; and in less than a week,
Hallam had settled happily down to its fresh conditions. But nothing
had been just as Antony expected. Phyllis was very lovely, but not
lovely specially for him, which was disappointing; and he could not
help soon seeing that, though Richard was attentive, he was also
unresponsive.
There is one charming thing about English hospitality, it leaves its
guests perfect freedom. In a very few days Phyllis found this out;
and she wandered, unnoticed and undisturbed, through the long
galleries, and examined, with particular interest, the upper rooms,
into which from generation to generation unwelcomed pictures and
unfashionable furniture had been placed. There was one room in the
eastern turret that attracted her specially. It contained an old
spinet, and above it the picture of a young girl; a face of
melancholy, tender beauty, with that far-off look, which the French
call _predestinee_, in the solemn eyes.
It is folly to say that furniture has no expression; the small couch,
the faded work-table, the straight chairs, with their twisted
attenuated legs, had an unspeakable air of sadness. One day she
cautiously touched the notes of the instrument. How weak and thin and
hollow they were! And yet they blended perfectly with something in
her own heart.
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