"
"Can't I see Walter today, mamma?" Claire asked, after Captain Davenant
had ridden off. "It seems so unkind, my being in the house with him, and
not going in to tell him how sorry I am that he was wounded."
"Not today, Claire. He is very flushed and feverish this morning, and I
must not have him excited at all."
"But I would not excite him, mother. I would only go in and speak to him
quietly."
"Even that would excite him, my dear. I will tell him that you want to
come in and see him; but that I think you had better not do so, for a day
or two."
But even without the excitement of Claire's presence, Walter became more
feverish, and by evening was talking wildly. The excitement and anxiety
he had gone through were as much responsible for this as the wound, and
by midnight he knew no one. The surgeon, who came over in the evening,
ordered cloths constantly soaked with fresh water to be placed round his
head, and that he should be given, whenever he desired it, barley water
sharpened by apples boiled in it.
Mrs. Conyers and Larry sat, one on each side of his couch, and once or
twice, when he was lying quiet, Claire was allowed to steal in and look
at him; but at other times Mrs. Conyers kept her out of the room, for, in
his feverish talk, Walter was constantly mentioning her name, and telling
her he would come to her.
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