Leonora secretly cherished in her heart the hope of a happy future; but she did not hesitate to inform her father of Gustave's visit.

De Vlierbeck heard her listlessly, and gave no other reply but a bitter smile.
From that day Grinselhof became sadder and more solitary than ever.

The old gentleman might generally be seen seated in an arm-chair, resting his forehead on his hand, while his eyes were fixed on the ground or on vacancy.

The fatal day on which the bond fell due was perhaps always present to his mind; nor could he banish the thought of that frightful misery into which it would plunge his child and himself.

Lenora carefully concealed her own sufferings in order not to increase her father's grief; and, although she fully sympathized with him, no effort was omitted on her part to cheer the old man by apparent contentment.
She did and said every thing that her tender heart could invent to arouse the sufferer from his reveries; but all her efforts were in vain: her father thanked her with a smile and caress; but the smile was sad, the caress constrained and feeble.
If Lenora sometimes asked him, with tears, what was the cause of his depression, he adroitly managed to avoid all explanations.