Mr. Halliburton's teaching was excellent--his income good. He was now one of the professors at King's College; but had not yet succeeded in carrying out his dream--that of getting to Oxford or Cambridge. Edgar Halliburton had begun at the wrong end of the ladder: he should have gone to college first and married afterwards. He married first: and to college he never went. A man of moderate means, with a home to keep, a wife, children, servants, to provide for, has enough to do with his money and time, without spending them at college. He had quite given up the idea now; and perhaps had grown not to regret it very keenly: his home was one of refinement, comfort, and thorough happiness. But about this period, or indeed some time prior to it, Mr. Halliburton had reason to believe that he was overtaxing his strength. For a long, long while, almost ever since he had been in London, he was aware that he had not felt thoroughly well. Hot weather affected him and rendered him languid; the chills of winter gave him a cough; the keen winds of spring attacked his chest. He would throw off his ailments bravely and go on again, not heeding them or thinking that they might ever become serious. Perhaps he never gave a thought to that until one evening when, upon coming in after a hard day's toil, he sat down in his chair and quietly fainted away. Jane and one of the servants were standing over him when he recovered--Jane's face very pale and anxious. "Do not be alarmed," he said, smiling at her. "I suppose I dropped asleep; or lost consciousness in some way." "You fainted, Edgar." "Fainted, did I? How silly I must have been! The room's warm, Jane: it must have overpowered me." Jane was not deceived. She saw that he was making light of it to quiet her alarm, and brought him a glass of wine. He drank it, but could not eat anything: frequently could not eat now. "Edgar," she said, "you are doing too much. I have seen it for a long time past." "Seen what, Jane?" "That your strength is not equal to your work. You must give up a portion of your teaching." "My dear, how can I do so? Does it not take all I earn to meet expenses? When accounts are settled at the end of the year, have we a shilling to spare?" It was so, and Jane knew it; but her husband's health was above every consideration in the world. "We must reduce our expenses," she said. "We must cease to live as we are living now. We will move into a smaller house, and keep one servant, and I will turn maid-of-all-work." She laughed quite merrily; but Mr. Halliburton detected a serious meaning in her tone. He shook his head. "No, Jane; that time, I hope, will never come."