The house I lived in was a comfortable one, kept by an elderly widow who was a pattern of neatness and propriety.

There were no children; for some time no other lodgers; and the place was as quiet as the grave.

All this suited me very well.

I wanted rest, and I was getting it.
"I had been at Brighton about a month, when the drawing-room floor over my head was taken by a lady, and her little girl of about five years old.
I used to hear the child's feet pattering about the room; but she was not a noisy child by any means; and when I did happen to hear her voice, it had a very pleasant sound to me.

The lady was an invalid, and was a good deal of trouble, my landlady took occasion to tell me, as she had no maid of her own.