Lee fitted easily into the quiet way of life at Arlington. Mrs. Lee and her mother cared little for formal social affairs, preferring to be out of doors gardening or riding about the estate when not entertaining visitors. Mr. Custis was usually busy with his farm, and since he liked to hunt, he might often be seen walking or riding about the estate with his gun and dogs; evenings he spent with his family by the hearth, or retired to his study to work on his literary efforts. Each morning and evening the family and servants gathered for prayers, and grace was said before each meal. On Sundays the family usually drove into Alexandria to church, or held services at home if the roads were bad. Mrs. Lee, like her father, was an amateur artist, an interest shared by her husband who also occasionally assisted Mr. Custis in his business affairs or put his engineering experience to use in making improvements. Troubles there were, of course. Lee was away on a mission to Ohio and Michigan when his second child, a daughter whom they named Mary, was born in the summer of 1835. When he returned, he found his wife so seriously ill that she was unable to walk for months. This was the first of a series of illnesses which were to make her an invalid much of her life. Though this experience saddened Lee at the time, it made his home the more dear to him. It was about this time that he wrote to a friend: “The Country looks very sweet now, and the hill at Arlington covered with verdure, and perfumed by the blossoms of the trees, the flowers of the Garden. Honey-Suckles, yellow Jasmine, &c. is more to my taste than at any other season of the year. But the brightest flower there blooming is my daughter.... [I] hurry home to her every day.” [Illustration: _View from Arlington about 1837._ From the original lithograph in the New York Public Library.] THE LEES AT ST. LOUIS, 1838 TO 1839. In 1837 another son was born, and although Lee had received orders to report to St. Louis he was able to remain at Arlington until he was assured the mother and baby were doing well. Christmas he was home again, remaining there till spring so Mrs. Lee and the two boys could return with him to St. Louis. Little Mary stayed behind with her grandparents, which may have compensated them somewhat for the absence of her parents the following Christmas. Now a captain, Lee brought his family home in the spring of 1839 for Mrs. Lee to await the arrival of their fourth child, though he could not remain for the event. Early in July, he heard a new daughter had joined the family circle, but not until Christmas did he get to see her.