It is small personal offences constantly repeated; little acts of meanness, and, above all, the petty plans and provisions of a selfish nature.

Besides which, the soul has often marvellous intuitions, unmasking men and things; premonitions, warnings, intelligences, that it cannot doubt and cannot explain.
Inside the house there was a pleasant air and stir of preparation; the rapid movements of servants, the shutting and opening of doors, the low laughter of gay hearts well contented with the time and the circumstances.

Outside, the mesmerizing snow was falling with a soft, silent persistence.

The squire looked sadly at the white hills, and the white park, and the branches bending under their load, and the sombre sky, gray upon darker gray.
Last Christmas the girls had relied entirely upon his help.

He had found the twine, and driven the nails, and steadied the ladder when Sophia's light form mounted it in order to hang the mistletoe.