?Mrs Opie?s was essentially a happy temperament and with such adaptability as she possessed, quiet home evenings were not without their charms; even when her husband sat there deep in his books or prints. He liked novels also: had the ? virtue of appreciating her own: when she read her latest work to him in the dramatic manner that made Martineaus weep over her pathos in manuscript and wonder at the lesser charm of the printed page, if her audience was so much smaller than at Norwich literary gatherings, it was an indulgent one.?