Page:Duty and Inclination 1.pdf/244

236 dejected. Struck by a change so marked, Mrs. De Brooke expressed surprise and alarm.

"Nothing but the effects of a sleepless night," answered he: "my head aches intolerably," raising his hand to his forehead; "but do not be uneasy, I shall be better presently."

Mrs. De Brooke's fears, however, were not to be so soon relieved; it was not common with him to pass a night such as he described. She hastened to rise, and to perform her usual morning's avocation, that of dressing her three children: ever with cheerfulness had she performed this necessary office; like sweet music to her ears, the soft sounds of her children's endearing prattle amply compensating for the care she lavished upon them.

But on the present occasion an anxiety oppressed her; that inexpressible charm was superseded by inquietude; not elicited only on her husband's account, but also on that of her youngest child. The languor affecting her seemed to forbode illness; she ceased to amuse by her infant sports, or to be amused by those of her brother and sister. Sensibly moved by the change in the interesting child, Mrs. De Brooke left nothing untried that might in any way assuage or lessen her indisposition. The morning advancing, and