"Poor Hayes," she said. "I cannot tell you how shocked I am."
"I thought it was best to tell you," said he, "but let us avoid the subject altogether. I shall live to bore you for many years yet."
Eva looked at him admiringly.
"You are a brave man. But you are right. Don't let us talk about it."
This took place late in November, but the fact that the symptoms, which had been the result of over-fatigue, did not re-occur, made Eva soon get used to the thought, and, in a measure, her husband too. He took the doctor's advice, did not over-exert himself at all, and found that the discovery they had made did not affect his health. The days soon began to pass on as usual.
Eva had suddenly determined to go abroad for a few weeks, for she had an intense dislike to an English winter. Hence it came about that one morning at breakfast, when she and her husband were alone, she had said to him,—
"What do you propose to do during these next two months, Hayes?"
Lord Hayes looked up from his breakfast, not quite understanding the purport of her question.
"I suppose we shall remain here till Easter," he said. "We are paying some visits in January, I believe."
"I should rather like to go abroad for a few weeks now this horrible weather has begun." She looked out of the window, where snow was beginning to fall heavily, and shivered sympathetically. "I hate this English weather," she said; "it is like being in a cold bath. Dry cold is not so bad, there is something exhilarating about it. But this doesn't suit me in the least. Why shouldn't we go to Algiers again?"