Waddy was dismissed with a munificent present, and could be trusted to hold his tongue.

By the advice of Middleton, not a single servant was dismissed, and so no enemies were made.

The family lawyer and steward were also retained, and, in short, all conversation was avoided.

In a month or two the new proprietor began to improve in health, and drive about his own grounds, or be rowed on his lake, lying on soft beds.
But in the fifth month of his residence local pains seized him, and he began to waste.

For some time the precise nature of the disorder was obscure; but at last a rising surgeon declared it to be an abscess in the intestines (caused, no doubt, by external violence).
By degrees the patient became unable to take solid food, and the drain upon his system was too great for a mere mucilaginous diet to sustain him.