It is but fair to
add that she was not the only one of us in the house who was thrown out
of the regular groove. Mr. Godfrey, for instance--though professionally
a sort of consoler-general--seemed to be at a loss where to look for his
own resources. Having no company to amuse him, and getting no chance
of trying what his experience of women in distress could do towards
comforting Miss Rachel, he wandered hither and thither about the house
and gardens in an aimless uneasy way. He was in two different minds
about what it became him to do, after the misfortune that had happened
to us. Ought he to relieve the family, in their present situation, of
the responsibility of him as a guest, or ought he to stay on the
chance that even his humble services might be of some use? He decided
ultimately that the last course was perhaps the most customary and
considerate course to take, in such a very peculiar case of family
distress as this was. Circumstances try the metal a man is really made
of. Mr. Godfrey, tried by circumstances, showed himself of weaker
metal than I had thought him to be. As for the women-servants excepting
Rosanna Spearman, who kept by herself--they took to whispering together
in corners, and staring at nothing suspiciously, as is the manner
of that weaker half of the human family, when anything extraordinary
happens in a house.
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