Whenever she turned her eyes suddenly upon her mother, she found her looking at her with a strange, searching intentness.

It was plain that Mrs.Dinneford saw in Edith's face as great a change and mystery as Edith saw in hers, and the riddle of her husband's countenance, so altered since morning, was harder even than Edith's to solve.
A drearier Christmas dinner, and one in which less food was taken by those who ate it, could hardly have been found in the city.

The Briar-street feast was one of joy and gladness in comparison.

The courses came and went with unwonted quickness, plates bearing off the almost untasted viands which they had received.

Scarcely a word was spoken during the meal.