He stood above them in his firm resolve to have his own way always, and his way was so crooked that the difficulty was to get out of it and let him have it.

And when he was dead, it was either too good or too bad to believe in; and even after he was buried it was held that this might be only another of his tricks.
But after his ghost had been seen repeatedly, sitting on the chain and swearing, it began to be known that he was gone indeed, and the relief afforded by his absence endeared him to sad memory.

Moreover, his good successors enhanced the relish of scandal about him by seeming themselves to be always so dry, distant, and unimpeachable.

Especially so did "My Lady Philippa," as the elder daughter was called by all the tenants and dependents, though the family now held no title of honor.
Mistress Yordas, as she was more correctly styled by usage of the period, was a maiden lady of fine presence, uncumbered as yet by weight of years, and only dignified thereby.

Stately, and straight, and substantial of figure, firm but not coarse of feature, she had reached her forty-fifth year without an ailment or a wrinkle.