She had been ailing ever since the
party had returned to London; the doctor had been called in on
Monday, and had not only pronounced the dreadful name of the disease,
but, seeking in vain for the marks of vaccination on her arms, he
greatly apprehended that she would have it in full and unmitigated
virulence.
Mrs. Randall Horsman had herself and her children vaccinated without
loss of time and fled to the country. Her husband would spend all
day in his chambers, and only sleep at home on the ground-floor with
every precaution, and Dora had been left in the charge of a young
under-house-maid, whose marked face proved her safety, until the
doctor could send in a regular nurse. It was this wretched little
stupid maid who was ignorant enough to assist the poor child in
sending off her unhappy packet, all unknowing of the seeds of
destruction it conveyed.
I had had a slight attack of undoubted smallpox when a young child,
and I immediately resolved on going to nurse my poor Dora, secure
that she would now be left to me, and unable to bear the thought of
her being among strangers. I went at once to the office to tell
Harry, and Baby Jack walked with me as far as our roads lay together,
asking me on the way if it were true that Harold Alison was engaged
to Miss Tracy, and on my denial, saying that Mrs. Randall had come
down full of the report; that Nessy had heard of it, and, on Sunday
afternoon, had teased Dora about it to such a degree that she had
leaped up from the sofa and actually boxed his ears, after which she
had gone into such a paroxysm of tears and sobs that she had been
sent to bed, and in the morning the family mind began to perceive she
was really ill.
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