"Not she, sir."
"Why not?" I asked. "Isn't she personally attractive?"
"Oh, I believe you, sir," said the coachman, enthusiastically, and turning up his eyes. "There is not a face in the whole place for miles round that can hold a candle to her."
"Indeed!" I exclaimed. "The squire is rich, too, as I hear, and I suppose she will be his heiress. What is your reason for believing that she will not marry?"
"Why, sir, she has such ill health; she never leaves the house. Folks say as how she will never recover."
"Indeed, and how long has she been thus?"
"About a year ago she was first seized; since then I have not seen her. When I last saw her wasn't she a beauty, neither!"
"I suppose this illness will have pulled her down a little. By the by, what is the nature of her complaint?"
"Well, I hardly know, sir, and that's the truth, what it is that do ail her. Some folks call it consumption, others call it something else."
"Who is her medical attendant?" I asked.