But this particular trouble could not
be hid, and Barbara told him all.
"Do not give way, my dearest daughter," he said, "and above all do not
seek to fly from your trial, which doubtless is sent to you for some
good purpose. Troubles that we strive to escape nearly always recoil
upon our heads, whereas if they are faced, often they melt away. If you
remain in the world to watch and help him, your son's nature, bad as it
seems to be, may yet alter, for after all I know that he loves you. But
if you give up and leave the world, who can tell what will happen to him
when he is quite uncontrolled and in possession of his fortune?"
Barbara recognised the truth of her father's words, and while he lived
tried to act up to them. But as it happened Mr. Walrond did not live
long, for one evening he was found dead in the church, whither he often
went to pray.
About this time the doctors told Barbara that her condition of health
was somewhat serious. It seemed that her lungs also showed signs of
being affected. Perhaps she had contracted the disease from her husband,
and now that she was so broken in spirit, it asserted itself. They
added, however, that if she took certain precautions, and above all went
away from Eastwich, there was every reason to hope that she would quite
recover her health.
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