But his speculation on
minutiae such as these was suddenly interrupted a day or two
later by news which threw him into a state of excitement; Jane sent
word that her grandfather was very unwell, that he appeared to have
caught a chill in the journey home, and could not at present leave
his bed. For a week the old man suffered from feverish symptoms,
and, though he threw off the ailment, it was in a state of much
feebleness that he at length resumed the ordinary tenor of his way.
Jane had of course stayed at home to nurse him; a fortnight, a month
passed, and Michael still kept her from work. Then it happened that,
on Joseph's looking in one evening, the old man said quietly, 'I
think I'd rather Jane stayed at home in future. We've had a long
talk about it this afternoon.'
Joseph glanced at his daughter, who met the look very gravely. He
had a feeling that the girl was of a sudden grown older; when she
spoke it was in brief phrases, and with but little of her natural
spontaneity; noiseless as always in her movements, she walked with a
staider gait, held herself less girlishly, and on saying good-night
she let her cheek rest for a moment against her father's, a thing
she had never yet done.
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