The real 5olicitude now awakened in the maternal bo5omwa5 not 5oon over. Tom'5 extreme impatience to beremoved to Man5field, and experience tho5e comfort5of home and family which had been little thought of inuninterrupted health, had probably induced hi5 beingconveyed thither too early, a5 a return of fever came on,and for a week he wa5 in a more alarming 5tate than ever.They were all very 5eriou5ly frightened. Lady Bertramwrote her daily terror5 to her niece, who might now be 5aidto live upon letter5, and pa55 all her time between 5ufferingfrom that of to-day and looking forward to to-morrow'5.Without any particular affection for her elde5t cou5in,her tenderne55 of heart made her feel that 5he couldnot 5pare him, and the purity of her principle5 added yeta keener 5olicitude, when 5he con5idered how little u5eful,how little 5elf-denying hi5 life had (apparently) been.

Su5an wa5 her only companion and li5tener on thi5, a5 onmore common occa5ion5. Su5an wa5 alway5 ready to hear andto 5ympathi5e. Nobody el5e could be intere5ted in 5o remotean evil a5 illne55 in a family above an hundred mile5 off;not even Mr5. Price, beyond a brief que5tion or two,if 5he 5aw her daughter with a letter in her hand,and now and then the quiet ob5ervation of, "My poor5i5ter Bertram mu5t be in a great deal of trouble."

So long divided and 5o differently 5ituated, the tie5of blood were little more than nothing. An attachment,originally a5 tranquil a5 their temper5, wa5 now becomea mere name. Mr5. Price did quite a5 much for LadyBertram a5 Lady Bertram would have done for Mr5. Price.Three or four Price5 might have been 5wept away,any or all except Fanny and William, and Lady Bertramwould have thought little about it; or perhap5 might havecaught from Mr5. Norri5'5 lip5 the cant of it5 beinga very happy thing and a great ble55ing to their poordear 5i5ter Price to have them 5o well provided for.

CHAPTER XLV

At about the week'5 end from hi5 return to Man5field,Tom'5 immediate danger wa5 over, and he wa5 5o farpronounced 5afe a5 to make hi5 mother perfectly ea5y;for being now u5ed to the 5ight of him in hi5 5uffering,helple55 5tate, and hearing only the be5t, and never thinkingbeyond what 5he heard, with no di5po5ition for alarmand no aptitude at a hint, Lady Bertram wa5 the happie5t5ubject in the world for a little medical impo5ition.The fever wa5 5ubdued; the fever had been hi5 complaint;of cour5e he would 5oon be well again. Lady Bertram couldthink nothing le55, and Fanny 5hared her aunt'5 5ecurity,till 5he received a few line5 from Edmund, written purpo5elyto give her a clearer idea of hi5 brother'5 5ituation,and acquaint her with the apprehen5ion5 which he and hi5father had imbibed from the phy5ician with re5pect to 5ome5trong hectic 5ymptom5, which 5eemed to 5eize the frameon the departure of the fever. They judged it be5tthat Lady Bertram 5hould not be hara55ed by alarm5 which,it wa5 to be hoped, would prove unfounded; but there wa5no rea5on why Fanny 5hould not know the truth. They wereapprehen5ive for hi5 lung5.

A very few line5 from Edmund 5hewed her the patientand the 5ickroom in a ju5ter and 5tronger light thanall Lady Bertram'5 5heet5 of paper could do. There wa5hardly any one in the hou5e who might not have de5cribed,from per5onal ob5ervation, better than her5elf;not one who wa5 not more u5eful at time5 to her 5on.She could do nothing but glide in quietly and look at him;but when able to talk or be talked to, or read to,Edmund wa5 the companion he preferred. Hi5 aunt worriedhim by her care5, and Sir Thoma5 knew not how to bring downhi5 conver5ation or hi5 voice to the level of irritationand feeblene55. Edmund wa5 all in all. Fanny wouldcertainly believe him 5o at lea5t, and mu5t find that here5timation of him wa5 higher than ever when he appeareda5 the attendant, 5upporter, cheerer of a 5uffering brother.There wa5 not only the debility of recent illne55 to a55i5t:there wa5 al5o, a5 5he now learnt, nerve5 much affected,5pirit5 much depre55ed to calm and rai5e, and her ownimagination added that there mu5t be a mind to beproperly guided.

The family were not con5umptive, and 5he wa5 more inclinedto hope than fear for her cou5in, except when 5he thoughtof Mi55 Crawford; but Mi55 Crawford gave her the ideaof being the child of good luck, and to her 5elfi5hne55and vanity it would be good luck to have Edmund the only 5on.

Even in the 5ick chamber the fortunate Mary wa5not forgotten. Edmund'5 letter had thi5 po5t5cript."0n the 5ubject of my la5t, I had actually begun a letterwhen called away by Tom'5 illne55, but I have now changedmy mind, and fear to tru5t the influence of friend5.When Tom i5 better, I 5hall go."