led in their object,--for the best reason, that
my father saw none of them. A feverish cold, attended with some return
of an old gout attack, had confined him to bed for some weeks, so that
he had never heard of the controversy; all the newspapers, filled as
they were with it, having been cautiously withheld from him by the
careful watchfulness of MacNaghten.

Such was the state of matters as my father, still weak from his attack,
descended, for the first time, to the drawing-room. MacNaghten had
persuaded my mother to accompany him on a short drive through the
grounds, when my father, whom they had left in his room, thought he
would make an effort to get downstairs, and surprise them on their
return. He was seated at an open window that looked out upon a
flower-garden, enjoying, with all an invalid's relish, the balmy air of
a summer's day, and feeling as if he drank in health at every stir
of the leaves by the light wind. His illness had not only greatly
debilitated him, but had even induced a degree of indolent inaction
very foreign to the active habit of his mind in health; and instead of
experiencing his wonted curiosity to know what the world had been doing
during his illness, he was actually happy in the thought of the perfect
repose he was enjoying, undisturbed by a single care. The rattling of
wheels on the ground at last gave token of some one coming, and a few
moments after, my father heard the sound of voices in the hall. Resolved
to deny himself to all strangers, he had risen to reach the bell, when
the door opened, and Rutledge entered.

"Why, they told me you were in bed, Carew," cried he, endeavoring by a
half-jocular manner to conceal the shock my father's wasted appearance
imparted. "They said I could not possibly see you, so that I had to send
up a few lines on my card to say how urgently I wished it, and meanwhile
came in to await your answer."

"They only said truly," muttered my father. "I have crept down to-day
for the first time, and I 'm not quite sure that I have done prudently."

"What has it been?--gout--rheumatic fever?"

"Neither; a bad cold neglected, and then an old ague on the back of it."

"And of course the fellows have bled and blistered you, without mercy.
My medical skill is borrowed from the stable: hot mashes and double
body-clothes are generally enough for a common attack. But rich fellows
like you cannot get off so cheaply. And madam--how is she?"

"Perfectly well, thank