For my heart was still hers, despite this hardness, for
which I saw that she must not be blamed.
As I had feared, Clem's cough became more obtrusive, and with this Miss
Caroline's irritation deepened toward him. She declared that his
trifling, no-account nature made him all but impossible.
Then one morning--one to be distinguished by its cold even among many
unusual mornings--there was no Clem to light my fires and to scent my
snug dining room with unparalleled coffee. This brought it definitely
home to me that the situation had become grave. I dressed with what
speed I could and hurried to Miss Caroline's door. The time had come
when I should probably have to do something.
My neighbor met me and said that Clem had meanly decided to remain in
bed for the day. I searched her face for some sign of consideration as
she said this, but I was disappointed. She seemed to feel only a fierce
disgust for his foolishness.
"But you may go up and look at the black good-for-nothing if you like,"
she said, grudgingly enough I thought.
I climbed the brief flight of stairs. I knew that Clem had not refused
to get up without reasons that seemed sufficient to him. In a narrow bed
in one of the doll-house rooms he lay coughing.
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