"But look," she said, "what beautiful weather; it is hard that I should remain in the house all day. You know I cannot walk. What am I to do?"
"Shall I row you," he said, "you can have as many pillows as you like; and you may lie as quietly as you would on the sofa."
"No," said Aveline, "I am afraid that my head would not bear the motion of the boat."
"And yet you thought of riding," said Mr. Haveloc, with a smile.
This was an imprudent remark, sick people require managing.
"Riding is quite different!" said Aveline angrily; "you do not know how to distinguish!"
Fortunately with all his impatience of temper, she never roused it. He pitied her too deeply; and without feeling the slightest attachment to her in the ordinary sense of the term, he had become very fond of her; he was won by the reliance she had placed in him for every thing.
He met Mrs. Fitzpatrick's eyes turned gratefully upon him, and smiled.
"No; I know nothing about it," he said, leaning over Aveline's chair, "I have no experience in illness. I cannot measure your strength."
"Then," said Aveline with a slight want of consistency, "what should you advise me to do?"