Yes! a dull sense of relief that their cherished project had been tried
and had failed. For that house, which was to be regarded as an
occasional home for their brother, could hardly be a fitting residence
for the children of strangers. They had, in all likelihood, become
silently aware that his habits were such as to render his society at
times most undesirable. Possibly, too, they had, by this time, heard
distressing rumours concerning the cause of that remorse and agony of
mind, which at times made him restless and unnaturally merry, at times
rendered him moody and irritable.
In January, 1845, Charlotte says:--"Branwell has been quieter and less
irritable, on the whole, this time than he was in summer. Anne is, as
usual, always good, mild, and patient." The deep-seated pain which he
was to occasion to his relations had now taken a decided form, and
pressed heavily on Charlotte's health and spirits. Early in this year,
she went to H. to bid good-bye to her dear friend "Mary," who was leaving
England for Australia.
Branwell, I have mentioned, had obtained the situation of a private
tutor. Anne was also engaged as governess in the same family, and was
thus a miserable witness to her brother's deterioration of character at
this period. Of the causes of this deterioration I cannot speak; but the
consequences were these.
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