The fare was
simple, but various and abundant; no dishes with foreign names, no
drinks more luxurious than sherry and claret. If he entertained
guests, they were people of his own kind, who thought more of the
hearty welcome than of what was set before them. His children were
neither cockered nor held in too strait a discipline; they learnt
from their parents that laughter was better than sighing, that it
was good to be generous, that they had superiors in the world as
well as inferiors, that hard work was the saving grace, and a lie
the accursed thing. This training seemed to agree with them, for one
and all were pictures of health. Tom, the first-born, numbered
fifteen years; Daisy, the latest arrival, had seen but three
summers, yet she already occupied a high chair at the dinner-table,
and conducted herself with much propriety. The two elder boys went
to the Grammar School morning and afternoon; for the other children
there was Miss Pope, with her smile of decorum, eyes of
intelligence, and clear, decided voice.
Mrs. Liversedge was obviously Denzil Quarrier's sister; she had his
eyes and his nose--not uncomely features. It did not appear that
her seven children were robust at their mother's expense; she ate
with undisguised appetite, laughed readily (just showing excellent
teeth), and kept a shapely figure, clad with simple becomingness.
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