I hope _you_ will not take it," he gravely added.

"I hope not, either. Like you, I have no fear of it. I am so glad Arthur
is away. Was it not wrong of that landlady to let her rooms to us when
she had fever in them?"

"Infamously wrong," said Lord Hartledon warmly.

"She excused herself afterwards by saying, that as the people who had the
fever were in quite a different part of the house from ours, she thought
there could be no danger. Papa was so angry. He told her he was sorry the
law did not take cognizance of such an offence. We had been a week in the
house before we knew of it."

"How did you find it out?"

"The lady who was ill with it died, and Matilda saw the coffin going up
the back stairs. She questioned the servants of the house, and one of
them told her all about it then, bit by bit. Another lady was lying ill,
and a third was recovering. The landlady, by way of excuse, said the
greatest wrong had been done to herself, for these ladies had brought the
fever into her house, and brought it deliberately. Fever had broken out
in their own home, some long way off, and they ran away from it, and took
her apartments, saying nothing; which was true, we found."

"Two wrongs don't make a right," observed Lord Hartledon. "Their bringing
the fever into her house was no justification for receiving you into it
when it was there. It's the way of the world, Anne: one wrong leading to
others. Is Matilda getting over it?"

"I hardly know. She is not out of danger; but Mr. Hillary has hopes of
her. One of the other servants has taken it, and is worse than Matilda.
Mr. Hillary has been with her three times to-day, and is coming again.
She was ill when I last wrote to you, Val; but we did not know it."

"Which of them is it?" he asked.

"The dairymaid; a stout girl, who has never had a day's illness before.
I don't suppose you know her. There was some trouble with her. She would
not take any medicine; would not do anything she ought to have done, and
the consequence is that the fever has got dangerously ahead. I am sure
she is very ill."

"I hope it will not spread beyond the Rectory."

"Oh, Val, that is our one great hope," she said, turning her earnest face
to him in the moonlight. "We are taking all possible precautions. None of
us are going beyond the grounds, except papa, and we do not receive any
one here. I don't know what papa will say to your coming."

He smiled. "But you can't keep all the world away!"