She felt that something more than usual must have occurred to disturb him.

Could it be possible that any thing was wrong in his business?
The thought caused a low thrill to tremble along her nerves.

He had frequently spoken of his affairs as not very prosperous; was always, in fact, making a "sort of a poor mouth." But all this she had understood as meant for effect--as a cover for his opposition to her wish to spend.

What if it were all as he had represented?
Such thoughts could not but sober the mind of Mrs.Ellis, and caused her manner towards her husband to assume an air of tenderness and concern to which it had too long been a stranger.

How quickly was this felt by Ellis! How gratefully did his heart respond to his wife's gentler touches on its tensely strung chords! That evening Henry Ellis spent at home.