CHAPTER XXXIV 493
" Yes ; just as if you were speaking Greek . I feel I have adequate cause to be happy , and I WILL be happy . Goodbye !"
Happy at Moor House I was , and hard I worked ; and so did Hannah : she was charmed to see how jovial I could be amidst the bustle of a house turned topsy-turvy -- how I could brush , and dust , and clean , and cook . And really , after a day or two of confusion worse confounded , it was delightful by degrees to invoke order from the chaos ourselves had made . I had previously taken a journey to S- to purchase some new furniture : my cousins having given me CARTE BLANCHE to effect what alterations I pleased , and a sum having been set aside for that purpose . The ordinary sitting-room and bedrooms I left much as they were : for I knew Diana and Mary would derive more pleasure from seeing again the old homely tables , and chairs , and beds , than from the spectacle of the smartest innovations . Still some novelty was necessary , to give to their return the piquancy with which I wished it to be invested . Dark handsome new carpets and curtains , an arrangement of some carefully selected antique ornaments in porcelain and bronze , new coverings , and mirrors , and dressing-cases , for the toilet tables , answered the end : they looked fresh without being glaring . A spare parlour and bedroom I refurnished entirely , with old mahogany and crimson upholstery : I laid canvas on the passage , and carpets on the stairs . When all was finished , I thought Moor House as complete a model of bright modest snugness within , as it was , at this season , a specimen of wintry waste and desert dreariness without .
The eventful Thursday at length came . They were expected about dark , and ere dusk fires were lit upstairs and below ; the kitchen was in perfect trim ; Hannah and I were dressed , and all was in readiness .
St . John arrived first . I had entreated him to keep quite clear of the house till everything was arranged : and , indeed , the bare idea of the commotion , at once sordid and trivial , going on within its walls sufficed to scare him to estrangement . He found me in the kitchen , watching the progress of certain cakes for tea , then baking . Approaching the hearth , he asked , " If I was at last satisfied with housemaid ' s work ?" I answered by inviting him to accompany me on a general inspection of the result of my labours . With