She found it harder than she had anticipated; considerably more so than it used to be; she did not make allowance for the effects of her illness, and entirely attributed the difficulty she met with to “stupidity” and “forgetfulness,” and thereupon ensued a fit of self-disgust.
“I to think myself clever, indeed!” she thought, “or able to be ever of use to any one. The first thing I have to do, it seems to me, is to get rid of my self-conceit. Why, I have forgotten more German in a month than I learnt in five years.”
She was not, however, to be easily baffled. She read and re-read each intricate sentence till its meaning became clear; till, too, her head ached and her eyes grew weary, and she was at last obliged to stop and rest before she had got half through the allotted portion. Her retreat was in a retired part of the gardens; hitherto she had been undisturbed by passers-by; suddenly, as she sat leaning back, her eyes closed, her whole appearance that of extreme weariness and languor, two gentlemen passed within a few yards of her. They were not speaking as they approached, but she heard their footsteps and opened her eyes for a moment, to close them again quickly when she saw that the two figures were disappearing in another direction.
“What an exquisitely pretty girl,” observed one of the two when they were out of earshot, “but how fearfully delicate she looks. I don’t think I ever saw such a transparent complexion. Did you notice her? She seemed to be asleep, and yet she looks as if she were some way gone in a decline. How extraordinary of her friends to let her fall asleep in the open air in April. How frightfully imprudent.”
“I didn’t notice her,” replied his companion, carelessly. “It’s not likely she is in a consumption, however. Consumptive people don’t come to Nunswell; it’s too cold. But if your feelings are interested, Thanet, I am quite willing to wait while you turn back and waken her. And you had better give her a little lecture on the subject of her imprudence at the same time, hadn’t you?”
“Nonsense, Chancellor,” replied Major Thanet, rather irritably. “If you had been on your back for three months, and suffering as I have been, you would understand what it is to have some feeling for your fellow-creatures. A year ago I should have laughed at such notions as you do now, I daresay,” he continued, more amiably, “but don’t make fun of me till you have had a touch of rheumatic fever yourself,” “I have no wish to try it, thank you,” said Captain Chancellor, lightly. “I am quite willing to take your word for it that, it is the reverse of agreeable. But a minute ago you would have it the young person must be half way gone in a decline, and now you say she’s in for rheumatic fever. We had better have a look at her, really: you said she was awfully pretty, didn’t you?” Major Thanet grunted a but half mollified assent. He was still too lame to walk without the help of his friend’s arm, so when Captain Chancellor turned to retrace their steps, he made no objection, though feeling still annoyed by what he considered his companion’s ill-timed “chaff.”
The girl was not asleep this time. She was reading, and did not look up till they had passed. Her attitude was still the same; she was half sitting, half lying on the bench, her head resting wearily on one hand, while the other held her book. Major Thanet looked at her, as they walked slowly past, with considerable interest.
“She is a lovely creature, whoever she is,” he remarked to his companion when they had walked on a little further. “Don’t you think so? She looks delicate, but hardly so much so as I fancied at first. It must have been the effect of her closed eyes.”
Captain Chancellor did not answer. Major Thanet was a much shorter man than his friend, and he stooped slightly in consequence of his illness. So he had not seen his companion’s face since they had passed the invalid girl. Now, however, he looked up, surprised at his silence, and a little irritated by his remark eliciting no reply.
“What are you thinking of, Chancellor?” he exclaimed. “Didn’t you see the girl? Don’t you?”