The women had disappeared.

Simon Grampierre sat at an end of the room, with Ambrose at his right, and his sons ranged about him.

The other men faced them from the body of the room.
There were not chairs for all, but indeed chairs suggested church, the trader's house, and other places of ceremony; and those without, squatting on their heels around the walls, were the happier.
Talk was slow to start.

They kept their hats on and stolidly looked down their noses.

When it began to grow dark a single little lamp was brought in and stood upon a dresser in the corner.
The wide room with its one spot of light and all the still, shadowy figures conveyed an effect of grimness.
Simon Grampierre opened the meeting.