Often, after he began to recover from his own illness, he had been seized with a longing to clasp them, and press his grateful lips to them—to tell her that they had saved his life, which, though not especially precious to himself personally, was valuable to others; but her supposed station, her sacred garb, restrained him—she was holy in his eyes, and no act or impulse of his should profane her calling. CHAPTER XXX SALOME BECOMES THE VICTIM OF A VILE SCHEME. We have now filled the gap between the time of Salome’s disappearance from her husband’s home, and the day when Mrs. Rochester and her daughter discovered her identity, upon removing her disguise when she fainted in the hall outside their door. After her second swoon in their room, she revived only to be seized with a fierce fever, and it became evident that she must now pay the penalty of her recent overwork—that weary nature demanded rest and would have it. Mrs. and Miss Rochester were dismayed when they found that the girl was going to be sick on their hands. “What shall we do with her?” the latter asked of her mother, when they found that she was too ill to be moved, and had become so delirious that it would be impossible to conceal her identity if any one were admitted to their rooms. “There is only one thing that can be done at present,” Mrs. Rochester remarked, after a few moments of thought: “you must take her place, and wait upon Dr. Winthrop, while I look after her.” “Can’t we send her to some hospital?” questioned Miss Rochester, with a frown. “I shouldn’t dare to have her moved while she is so ill, she might die——” “If she would be so accommodating it would smooth things wonderfully for us,” interposed the younger woman heartlessly. Mrs. Rochester flushed. Some such thought had been in her own mind, but she had shrunk from giving expression to it. “She may die with the best of care,” she said, “but I’m not quite callous enough, yet, to wish to hasten such a result, and so we shall have to manage as best we can until she is able to be moved.” “I am willing enough to take her place in attending Dr. Winthrop,” returned Miss Rochester, “but I am afraid that he will insist upon prescribing for her if he learns that she is ill.” “We must not let him know that she is in the house,” her mother returned; “we will tell him that she was taken suddenly ill, and had to be removed to the convent to be cared for.” “But can we keep her presence here a secret?”