There was Christopher to be looked after . The boy 's grief was stormy and uncontrolled . He had cried until he was utterly exhausted . It was Eunice who soothed him , coaxed him to eat , kept him constantly by her . At night she took him to her own room and watched over him while he slept . 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 XXXXX they had quarreled like the proverbial cat and dog .
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