text:  Nevertheless I am not so cold of heart as to be utterly devoid of interest in the destinies of those whose turrets I see peering over the woods that encircle my corn-fields; and as the good old housekeeper who for these thirty years past has presided over my household happens to have grandchildren high in service in what are called the two great families in the neighbourhood scarcely an event or incident passes within their walls that does not find an echo in mine