"No. There has been a nasty kind of fever going about, which I fear your boy has somehow taken. I have had two cases lately, and in both instances the symptoms were similar to this."
"Is it a dangerous fever?" asked Amy.
"The old lady, my first patient, is quite well again, in fact better than she has been for the last six months, as the fever cured the rheumatics, and from being almost a cripple, she now walks nearly as well as ever. And," he said, rising to leave, "I should advise no one"s entering this room but those who are obliged to--the fewer the better--and by all means keep the other children away, as the sore throat is decidedly infectious. Good-bye, Sir; take your medicine like a little man, and then we"ll soon have you well again," said he to Bertie.
"My boy, my poor Bertie," said Amy, as she sat by his side, and held the cool, refreshing drink to his parched lips. Did she need this fresh trial coming upon her already stricken heart?
"Don"t let the boy see you crying, Ma"am," said Hannah, "or perhaps he"ll be getting frightened, and I"m sure that"ll be bad for him."
"No," said Amy. But though no tears were in her eyes, the traces of them were weighing down the heavy swollen eyelids; but tears she had none to shed, she had wept so much.
So she sat by the side of her sick child"s little cot with aching heart, all alone and lonely, with no one but old faithful Hannah to sympathize and watch with her; he, her husband, she dared not think of, or if she thought at all, it was to almost wish he would not come; so stern and grave a face might frighten her boy.
"Are you not going down to dinner, Ma"am?" said Nurse at last, in a whisper, for Bertie had dropped off into an uneasy slumber.
"Dinner? Ah! yes. I forgot. No, I shall not go down to dinner to-day. I shall not leave my boy."
"I can take care of him, Ma"am, and then shouldn"t you tell the Master?
Haven"t you forgotten him? There"s no use keeping the bad news from him."
Forgotten him? How could she forget? Were not his words still fresh at her heart?
But Nurse was right, he ought to be told; there was Mrs. Linchmore, too, she--all, ought to know about Bertie.
So Amy rose and went away in search of her husband. Where was he? Should she find him in his room? She hesitated ere she knocked, but his heavy tread a moment after a.s.sured her he was there. She did not look up as the door opened, but said simply, "Bertie is ill, Robert, very ill. Mr.
Blane has been to see him, and says he has caught some fever, but not a dangerous one."
All traces of sternness and anger fled from his brow, as he listened and caught the expression of his wife"s face. He wondered at the calmness with which she spoke. His boy ill, little Bertie, in whose life her very soul had seemed wrapt? and she could stand and speak of it so coldly, so calmly as this? He wondered, and saw nothing of the anguish within, or how the one terrible blow he had dealt her had for the time broken and crushed her spirit. Only a few hours ago, and she would have wept and clung round his neck for help, in this her one great hour of need. But that was past, could not be; he would not have it so, her love had been forbidden.
"I will go and see the boy," he said, gently.
She turned and went on her way downstairs to the drawing-room.
"Good gracious, Mrs. Vavasour! what is the matter?" cried Frances, her heart beating savagely, as she looked at the poor face, so wan and still, telling its own tale of woe long before the lips did.
Amy took no notice of Frances, but pa.s.sed on to where Mrs. Linchmore sat with the children. It was Alice"s birthday, and Bertie was to have come down too, and as Amy remembered it, her heart for the first time felt full; but she drove back the tears, and said--
"My child is ill. He has caught some fever; but not a dangerous one."
How fond she was of repeating this latter phrase, as if the very fact of saying that it was not a dangerous fever would ease and convince her frightened, timid heart.
The words startled everyone.
"I am extremely sorry," said Mrs. Linchmore, drawing Alice away. "I trust, I hope it is not infectious?"
"I very much fear it is, at least, Mr. Blane thinks the sore throat is, and advises the children, by all means, being kept apart."
"They must go away, shall go away the very first thing to-morrow morning. It is as well to be on the safe side. Don"t you think so, Robert?" said Mrs. Linchmore.
"Decidedly. They can go into the village for the time or to Grant"s cottage."
"There are cases of the same fever in the village," said Amy.
"Then they must go away altogether," said Mrs. Linchmore, hurriedly. "We must send them to Standale."
"I am so sorry for Bertie, he"ll have such lots of nasty medicine," said f.a.n.n.y; "but won"t it be nice to be without Miss Barker?"
"Be silent, child!" said her mother, "Miss Barker will of course go with you."
"Oh! how horrid!" returned f.a.n.n.y. Even Mrs. Linchmore"s frown could not prevent her from saying that.
Amy pa.s.sed out again even as she had come, almost brushing Frances"
dress, but without looking at her, although, had she raised her eyes, she must have been struck with the whiteness of her face, which equalled, if not exceeded, her own.
"Master has been here, Ma"am," said Hannah, as Amy returned, "and bid me tell you he had gone to fetch Dr. Bernard."
Again Amy sat by her boy watching and waiting. What else was there to be done? He still slept--slept uneasily, troubled with that short, dry cough.
Later on in the evening, when Dr. Bernard--whose mild hopeful face and kind cheering voice inspiring her poor heart with courage,--had been, and when the hours were creeping on into night a knock sounded at the door.
"Miss Strickland is outside, Ma"am, and wants to come in. Shall I let her?" asked Hannah.
Amy went out and closed the door behind her, and looked with unmoved eyes on Frances" flushed and anxious face.
"How is he? May I go in?" she asked, eagerly.
"Never, with my permission," was the chilling reply.
"Only for five minutes; I am not afraid of the fever, and my looking at him can do him no harm. I will promise not to stay longer than that."
"No. You shall not go in for half a minute, even."
"You cannot be so cruel," said Frances; "you cannot tell how frightened and anxious I am. Oh! do let me see him."
"I will not," said Amy, angrily.
"Cruel, hard-hearted mother," cried Frances. "I know he has asked for me. I know he has called for me!"
"I thank G.o.d he has not," replied Amy, "for _that_ would break my heart."
"Then he will ask for me; and if he does, you will send for me, won"t you?"
"Never!" said Amy, as she turned away.
"Oh! Mrs. Vavasour, I love the boy; don"t you see that my heart is breaking while you stand there so pitilessly."
"Had you loved the boy," said Amy, "you would not have crushed the mother"s heart. What had I done to you, Frances Strickland, that you should pursue me so cruelly, first as a girl, when I never injured you, and then--now you have taken my husband"s love from me, and would take my boy"s also? But I will stand between him and you, cruel girl, as long as I live."