At last, in a fit of desperation, she wrote to Agnes Gibson that she never expected to be married—certainly not to Frederic Raymond—and if every young lady matrimonially inclined should nurse her intended husband through a course of fever, she guessed they would become disgusted with mankind generally, and that man in particular! This done, Isabel felt better—so much better indeed that she resolved upon another trial to bring about her desired object, and one day, about two weeks after her mother’s arrival, she said to Frederic:
“Now that you are nearly well, I believe I shall go to New Haven, and, after a little, mother will come, too. I shall remain there, I think, though mother, I suppose, will keep house for you this year, as she has engaged to do.”
To this suggestion Frederic did not reply just as she thought he would.
“It was a good idea,” he said, “for her to visit her old home, and he presumed she would enjoy it.” Then he added, very faintly: “Alice will need a teacher here quite as much as in Kentucky, and you can retain your situation if you choose.”
Isabel bit her lip, and her black eyes flashed angrily as she replied:
“I am tired of teaching only one pupil, for there is nothing to interest me, and I am all worn out, too.”
She did look pale, and, touched with pity, Frederic said to her, very kindly:
“You do seem weary, Isabel. You have been confined with me too long, and I think you had better go at once. I will run down to see you, if possible, before I return to Kentucky.”
This gave her hope, and, drying her eyes, which were filled with tears, Isabel chatted pleasantly with him about his future plans, which had been somewhat disarranged by his unexpected illness. He could not now hope to be settled at Riverside, as he called his new home, until some time in June—perhaps not so soon—but he would let her know, he said, in time to meet him there.
A day or two after this conversation, Isabel started for New Haven, whither in the course of a week she was followed by both her mother and Rudolph, the latter of whom was determined not to lose sight of her until sure that the engagement, which he somewhat doubted, did not in reality exist.