"The gout."
"Well, that sounds very aristocratic and imposing; but, notwithstanding, I know you are laughing at me."
"No, I am not. It is no laughing matter."
"Why, is it dangerous?"
"Dangerous!" said he. "It is deadly. Why, Katy, I never shall dare to tell you anything again, if you are going to look so frightened! She did not when I told her."
"Does she know?"
"Yes, and makes no secret of it, and is not unlikely to mention it before you; so that you must accustom yourself to the idea, and be prepared to face it as she does."
"How came she to know?"
"She asked me. I gave up very early in my practice, for several reasons, the habit of lying to my patients. If they are cowards, or if, for any reason, I think the truth and the whole truth would shorten their days, I often tell them little or nothing; but I tell them nothing but the truth. She is not a person to be put off from knowing what she has a right to know."
"How did she take it?"