CHAPTER XXVI.
Mrs.Cricklander felt it would be discreet and in perfect taste if she announced her intention of going off to Carlsbad the week after her engagement was settled--she was always most careful of decorum.

And, if the world of her friends thought John Derringham was well enough to be making love to her in the seclusion of her own house, it would be much wiser for her to show that she should always remain beyond the breath of any gossip.
In her heart she was bored to tears.

For nearly the whole of June she had been cooped up at Wendover--for more than half the time without even parties of visitors to keep her company--and she loathed being alone.
She had no personal resources and invariably at such times smoked too much and got agitated nerves in consequence.
John Derringham--strong and handsome, with his prestige and his brilliant faculties--was a conquest worth parading chained to her chariot wheels.

But John Derringham, feeble, unable to walk, his ankle in splints and plaster of Paris, and still suffering from headaches whenever the light was strong, was simply a weariness to her--nothing more nor less.
So that, until he should be restored to his usual captivating vigor, it was much better for her pleasure to leave him to his complete recovery alone, now that she had got him securely in her keeping.
Arabella could ask her mother down and keep house and see that he had everything in the world that he wanted--and there were the devoted nurses.

And, in short, her doctor had said she must have her usual cure, and that was the end of the matter! She had only made him the most fleeting visits during the week.