"I have done all I can," said the Mother; "I am too weak, and I am afraid I shall be ill."
Eric called his aunt to remain with his mother, and returned to Roland and Manna.
The Doctor was sent for that very afternoon. The Professorin was sick.
CHAPTER XV.
A WHOLESOME ILLNESS.
She whom all depended upon, to whom every one repaired, sure of care and assistance,—she was now unexpectedly in want of assistance herself, and was in a dangerous condition. The remarkable events and vicissitudes some had begun to overcome by means of their youthful strength, by stern defiance, and others by indifference; the Professorin alone felt a constant gnawing at her heart day and night.
Eric had remarked several days before, although he ascribed it to the sudden shock she had received, that his mother, when he was walking before her hand in hand with Manna, took everything cordially and kindly, but still dully, and as if weighed down by some feeling of depression. His mother was in the habit of seeking help from no one, she had always the power of assisting others, and in this doing for others she always found renewed strength.
From the day on which Fräulein Milch made that communication to her, it had been different; she performed only mechanically the duties which had previously been executed with such freedom and animation.
From that day forth, she had determined to keep clear of every luxurious indulgence which this ostentatious man might feel like putting in her way, and this she would do in a modest and retiring manner; from that day forth she looked upon herself as a traveller receiving temporary hospitalities, for all the home feeling of comfort had been taken away from her. She was prepared at any hour to pack up all that she possessed, and all that was arranged in such a quiet way about her, and remove to some other place.
She had never in her life been troubled by regret, she had done nothing for which she could reproach herself, or the memory of which was to be effaced; but now she was beset by a constant feeling of regret.