His anticipations collapsed in the face of these bristling realities, among which he felt his isolation more deeply than ever before.

He recalled the cordiality of Reine's reception, and how she had spoken of the difficulties he should have to encounter.

How little he had thought that her forebodings would come true the very same day! The recollection of the cheerful and hospitable interior of La Thuiliere contrasted painfully with his cold, bare Vivey mansion, tenanted solely by hostile domestics.

Who were these people--this Manette Sejournant with her treacherous smile, and this fellow Claudet, who had, at the very first, subjected him to such offensive questioning?
Why did they seem so ill-disposed toward him?
He felt as if he were completely enveloped in an atmosphere of contradiction and ill-will.

He foresaw what an amount of quiet but steady opposition he should have to encounter from these subordinates, and he became alarmed at the prospect of having to display so much energy in order to establish his authority in the chateau.