the sanctitude of a conversation at the domestic hearth, how different
would have been the result!




CHAPTER III.

THE INVALID.


When Mr. Mandeville entered the house, as related at the close of the first
chapter, he found Eveline lying on the floor of her room, in a state of
insensibility. All his efforts to arouse her were unavailing, and leaving
her in the care of the distracted housemaid, he hastened off for the
doctor. When the stunning influence was removed, Eveline was still
unconscious. A burning fever was in her veins, and delirium in her brain.
All night long the doctor remained by her bedside, and when morning at
length compelled him to visit other patients, he left with an expression on
his countenance, which caused anything but a hopeful sensation in the
father's breast.

Days of anxiety and nights of sleepless watching passed away, and yet the
father, with pale cheeks and heavy heart, sat by the bedside of the
afflicted. No mother had she, that kind parent having several years before
been laid in the cold grave; and the father strove to make up for the loss
as far as he could understand the necessities of a sick-room; and, indeed,
he became wonderfully gentle in his attentions. His touch was trained to be
light and soft as a woman's, his step quiet, and his manner subdued. He
would leave the room only for a few minutes at a time, and then return with