When the funeral was over the household furniture was packed away or sold . The house was locked up and the farm rented . There was nowhere for the children to go , save to their uncle 's . Caroline Holland did not want them , but , having to take them , she grimly made up her mind to do what she considered her duty by them . She had five children of her own and between them and Christopher a standing feud had existed from the time he could walk . She had never liked Naomi . Few people did . Benjamin Holland had not married until late in life , and his wife had declared war on his family at sight . She was a stranger in Avonlea , -- a widow , with a three year-old child . She made few friends , as some people always asserted that she was not in her right mind . Within a year of her second marriage Christopher was born , and from the hour of his birth his mother had worshiped him blindly . He was her only solace . For him she toiled and pinched and saved . Benjamin Holland had not been `` fore-handed '' when she married him ; but , when he died , six years after his marriage , he was a well-to-do man . Naomi made no pretense of mourning for him . It was an open secret that they had quarreled like the proverbial cat and dog . Charles Holland and his wife had naturally sided with Benjamin , and Naomi fought her battles single-handed . After her husband 's death , she managed to farm alone , and made it pay . When the mysterious malady which was to end her life first seized on her she fought against it with all the strength and stubbornness of her strong and stubborn nature . Her will won for her an added year of life , and then she had to yield .
She tasted all the bitterness XXXXX death the day on which she lay down on her bed , and saw her enemy come in to rule her house .
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