"And that will never be," my grandmother went on. "I've given up hope, Maureen. Luke is dead and gone, and my husband is slipping out of life, and this child is breaking her heart."
And then I opened my eyes, and they saw I was awake.
CHAPTER XXXII
THE NEW HOME
I had frightened them all by my fainting-fit, but after all it was nothing. The doctor who had been fetched hastily by my frightened lover reassured them.
"Did you think she was sickening for the small-pox?" he asked, looking from one face to the other with bright intelligence. He was a young doctor not long settled in our neighbourhood, and we used to say among ourselves that he was too clever to stay long with us. "Well, then, she isn't doing anything of the sort. I expect she's been taking the troubles too much to heart. A bit run down and nervous. The honeymoon journey will be the best prescription for that. I should like to see more flesh on her bones."
He patted my hand as he spoke; and I could see the relief in the faces about me. In those days any feverish attack suggested the small-pox.
"Dr. Molyneux should see grandpapa," I said. "Grandpapa is not well."