It was said that the marriage had never been a real one, that they were only companions, and so forth.

Froude was content to enjoy the society of the most gifted couple in London without troubling himself to solve mysteries which did not concern him.
Thrifty as she was, Mrs.Carlyle was not fitted by physical strength and early training to be the wife of a poor man.

She was too anxious a housekeeper, and worried herself nervously about trifles.

Her father had been a country doctor, not rich, but able to keep the necessary servants.

In Carlyle's home there were no servants at all.
His father was a mason, and the work of the house was done by the family.