"You mean you've had a year or two less of it."
"Yes. They never told me, for fear of making me unhappy, when Father's illness came."
"How long ago was that?"
"Five years ago. I was at school."
He made a brief calculation. During the two years of his married life Phœbe had been a child at school.
"And two years," said Phœbe, "is a long time to be happy in."
"Yes," he said, "it's a long time."
"And then," she went on presently, "I'm so much stronger than Effie and Mary."
"Not strong enough to go dragging that abominable bath-chair about."
"Not strong enough? Look——"