He never dreamed of the relief it was to her not to have him come, as he lay flushed and heated upon his pillow, the veins upon his forehead swelling with their pressure of hot blood, and his ear strained to catch the first sound of the servant's returning step.

Ethelyn would either come herself to see him, or send some cheerful message, he was sure.
How, then, was he disappointed to find his own note returned, with the assurance that "it did not matter, as he would only be in the way." Several times he read it over, trying to extract some comfort from it, and finding it at last in the fact that Ethelyn had a headache, too.
This was the reason for her seeming indifference; and in wishing himself able to go to her, Richard forgot in part his own pain, and fell into a quiet sleep, which did him untold good.

It was three o'clock when at last he rose, knowing pretty well all that had been doing during the hours of his seclusion in the darkened room.

The "Van Buren set" had come, and he overheard Mrs.Markham's Esther saying to Aunt Barbara's Betsy, when she came for the silver cake-basket, that "Mr.Frank seemed in mighty fine spirits, considering all the flirtations he used to have with Miss Ethelyn." This was the first intimation Richard had received of a flirtation, and even now it did not strike him unpleasantly.

They were cousins, he reflected, and as such had undoubtedly been very familiar with each other.