Even were he able to get such a housekeeper it would cut Aunt Martha to the quick . She believed she could still do all that was meet and necessary . He could not so hurt and insult the poor old woman who had been so kind to him and his . How devoted she had been to Cecilia ! And Cecilia had asked him to be very considerate of Aunt Martha . To be sure , he suddenly remembered that Aunt Martha had once hinted that he ought to marry again . He felt she would not resent a wife as she would a housekeeper . But that was out of the question . He did not wish to marry -- he did not and could not care for anyone . Then what could he do ? It suddenly occurred to him that he would go over to Ingleside and talk over his difficulties with Mrs. Blythe . Mrs. Blythe was one of the few women he never felt shy or tongue-tied with . She was always so sympathetic and refreshing . It might be that she could suggest some solution of his problems . And even if she could not Mr. Meredith felt that he needed a little decent human companionship after his dose of Mrs. Davis -- something to take the taste of her out of his soul . He dressed hurriedly and ate his supper less abstractedly than usual . It occurred to him that it was a poor meal . He looked at his children ; they were rosy and healthy looking enough -- except Una , and she had never been very strong even when her mother was alive . They were all laughing and talking -- certainly they seemed happy . Carl was especially happy because he had two most beautiful spiders crawling around his supper plate .
Their voices were pleasant , their manners did not seem bad , they were considerate XXXXX and gentle to one another .
around as at except for if of than that with