I think winter-time would have weighed less on our spirits; the drawn curtains and the bright lamps, and the companionable fires would have helped us.

We were only five in the house altogether--after having once been so many! I can't tell you how dreary the gray daylight looked, toward seven o'clock, in the lonely rooms, and on the noiseless staircase.

Surely, the prejudice in favor of long summer evenings is the prejudice of happy people?
We did our best.
We kept ourselves employed, and Miss Garth helped us.

The prospect of preparing for our departure, which had seemed so dreadful earlier in the day, altered into the prospect of a refuge from ourselves as the evening came on.

We each tried at first to pack up in our own rooms--but the loneliness was more than we could bear.