overwhelmed his hearth; all these were powerful and exciting emotions for
a young and fervent mind, in addition to the peculiar source of
sensibility on which we have already touched. Lord Vere, who lodged in the
same house as Millbank, and was sitting by his bedside, observed, as night
fell, that his mind wandered.

The illness of Millbank, the character of which soon transpired, and was
soon exaggerated, attracted the public attention with increased interest
to the circumstances out of which it had arisen, and from which the
parties principally concerned had wished to have diverted notice. The
sufferer, indeed, had transgressed the rules of the school by bathing at
an unlicensed spot, where there were no expert swimmers in attendance, as
is customary, to instruct the practice and to guard over the lives of the
young adventurers. But the circumstances with which this violation of
rules had been accompanied, and the assurance of several of the party that
they had not themselves infringed the regulations, combined with the high
character of Millbank, made the authorities not over anxious to visit with
penalties a breach of observance which, in the case of the only proved
offender, had been attended with such impressive consequences. The feat of
Coningsby was extolled by all as an act of high gallantry and skill. It
confirmed and increased the great reputation which he already enjoyed.

'Millbank is getting quite well,' said Buckhurst to Coningsby a few days
after the accident. 'Henry Sydney and I are going to see him. Will you
come?'

'I think we shall be too many. I will go another day,' replied Coningsby.

So they went without him. They found Millbank up and reading.