There was never a fuss about anything: the domestic arrangements seemed to work on smoothly oiled wheels; the different repasts were served with quiet elegance and regularity; the servants were few, but admirably trained; and we all lived in an absolutely calm atmosphere, unruffled by so much as a breath of worry.

Nothing of a mysterious nature went on, as far as I could see.
Heliobas passed the greater part of the day in his study--a small, plainly furnished room, the facsimile of the one I had beheld him in when I had dreamed those three dreams at Cannes.

Whether he received many or few patients there I could not tell; but that some applied to him for advice I knew, as I often met strangers crossing the hall on their way in and out.

He always joined us at dinner, and was invariably cheerful, generally entertaining us with lively converse and sparkling narrative, though now and then the thoughtful tendency of his mind predominated, and gave a serious tone to his remarks.
Zara was uniformly bright and even in her temperament.

She was my very ideal of the Greek Psyche, radiant yet calm, pensive yet mirthful.