"Doctor, what happened to Sir Charles Clifford?"
"Happened?"
The doctor frowned into a test-tube and waited for her to explain.
"I mean, if he is ill, what has he got?"
"Oh, typhoid fever," replied the doctor indifferently, intent on his experiment.
"So it was typhoid after all!" Esther exclaimed, conscious of a certain regret.
He lowered the tube and slowly levelled his small dull eyes upon her.
Without knowing in the least why, she felt uncomfortable.
"Why do you say 'after all'?"
"I merely meant that his sister told me she was afraid it might be that. One of their housemaids had it."
"Yes, that is so. There's enough of it about."