Not long since, during a sharp attack of illness caused by a chill, Roma had persuaded her father to call in medical advice—a thing from which he greatly shrank. The slight illness was soon thrown off; but the doctor had spoken seriously to her of the highly excitable condition of his patient’s heart and brain, and had warned her that if his life was to be prolonged, he must be carefully guarded from all excitement or anxiety. That some mischief was going on he did not doubt; but of what kind it was difficult to say, as his patient was suspiciously reserved in answering questions about his health. All that the medical man could do was to warn the girl to avoid all vexatious or exciting topics of conversation, and to keep his mind serene and contented at all risks. It was now, therefore, quite impossible for Roma to oppose his will even in small matters. To resist him in such a matter as this long-cherished scheme, would be to her nervous and excited fancy to give him his death-blow at once. When Philip Debenham appeared upon the scene, Roma’s feeling towards him was one of intense dislike. She hated the sound of his name and the sight of his face. She could hardly bear to listen to Maud’s raptures over her ‘angel-boy,’ and she felt degraded by his very presence in the house. When, however, his visits continued, and she saw more of him, and of his goodness to her father, the strength of her antipathy wore off, and she could not but feel a certain liking for anyone who did not tire of the monotony of the blind man’s room. At the same time she never quite lost the sense of constraint, which had been so painful at first, and her manner was always somewhat distant and reserved, even when it had lost its first icy coldness. Tor, for his part, had no special interest in the handsome Italian-looking girl. He thought her rather absurdly haughty, and needlessly frigid in her manner; but he did not trouble himself about the matter, nor resent that of which he was barely conscious. Michael Meredith was much more interesting to him than Roma, and during his early visits he hardly saw the girl at all.