He lazily unclosed his eyelids for a moment, not in order to see who was there, but with a view of intimating that he was not asleep.

But he was not wholly conscious.

To men accustomed to an active, energetic life, a long illness is nothing but a period of complete rest.

In his more active moments Jack Meredith sometimes thought that this rest of his was extending into a dangerously long period, but he was too weak to feel anxiety about anything.
Jocelyn moved away and busied herself noiselessly with one or two of those small duties of the sick-room which women see and men ignore.

But she could not keep away.