There was a special charm for him in the place that had so long being Marian's home.
He felt nearer to her, somehow, under that roof, and as if he must needs be on the right road to some discovery.

The bailiff, although prone to silence, seemed to derive considerable gratification from Mr.Fenton's visits, and talked to that gentleman with greater freedom than he was wont to display in his intercourse with mankind.

Ellen was not always present during the whole of the evening, and in her absence the bailiff would unbosom himself to Gilbert on the subject of his daughter's undutiful conduct; telling him what a prosperous marriage the girl might make if she had only common sense enough to see her own interests in the right light, and wasn't the most obstinate self-willed hussy that ever set her own foolish whims and fancies against a father's wishes.
"But a woman's fancies sometimes mean a very deep feeling, Mr.Carley," pleaded Gilbert; "and what worldly-wise people call a good home, is not always a happy one.

It's a hard thing for a young woman to marry against her inclination." "Humph!" muttered the bailiff in a surly tone.

"It's a harder thing for her to marry a pauper, I should think, and to bring a regiment of children into the world, always wanting shoes and stockings.