This was not selfishness in theory, however much it may have been so in practice; it merely meant that she was unable to introduce variation into a mechanical order; and, as her husband never dreamed of complaining, Mrs.Hood could see in the arrangement no breach of the fitness of things, even though it meant that poor Hood never sat down to a freshly cooked meal from one end of the year to the other.

To Emily it was simply a detestable instance of the worst miseries she had to endure at home.

Coming on this first day, it disturbed her much.

She knew the uselessness, the danger, of opposing any traditional habit, but her appetite at one o'clock was small.
Mrs.Hood did not keep a servant in the house; she engaged a charwoman once a week, and did all the work at other times herself.

This was not strictly necessary; the expense of such a servant as would have answered purposes could just have been afforded; again and again Emily had entreated to be allowed to pay a girl out of her own earnings.