He had the old wing of the house for his exclusive occupation; and no one ventured to intrude upon him in his privacy.

There was a bell in the corridor which communicated with his rooms, and by this bell he was always summoned.

There were servants who had been ten years at Fellside, and who had never crossed the threshold of the red cloth door which was the only communication between the new house and the old one.
Steadman's wife performed all household duties of cooking and cleaning in the south wing, where she and her husband took all their meals, and lived entirely apart from the other servants, an exclusiveness which was secretly resented by the establishment.
'Mr.Steadman may be a very superior man,' said the butler 'and I know that in his own estimation the Premier isn't in it compared with him; but I never was fond of people who set themselves upon pinnacles, and I'm not fond of the Steadmans.' 'Mrs.Steadman's plain and homely enough,' replied the housekeeper, 'and I know she'd like to be more sociable, and drop into my room for a cup of tea now and then; but Steadman do so keep her under his thumb: and because he's a misanthrope she's obliged to sit and mope alone.' If Steadman wanted to drive, there was a dogcart and horse at his disposal; but he did not often leave Fellside.

He seemed in his humble way to model his life upon Lady Maulevrier's secluded habits.

It was growing dusk when Steadman left his mistress, and she lay for some time looking at the landscape over which twilight shadows were stealing, and thinking of her own life.