We let them get well in advance and then followed, Freda silent and distraite, but every now and then asking a question about the Major.
As for Derrick, evidently he was on guard.

He saw a good deal of the Merrifields and was sedulously attentive to them in many small ways; but with Freda he was curiously reserved, and if by chance they did talk together, he took good care to bring Lawrence's name into the conversation.

On the whole, I believe loyalty was his strongest characteristic, and want of loyalty in others tried him more severely than anything in the world.
As the spring wore on, it became evident to everyone that the Major could not last long.

His son's watchfulness and the enforced temperance which the doctors insisted on had prolonged his life to a certain extent, but gradually his sufferings increased and his strength diminished.

At last he kept his bed altogether.
What Derrick bore at this time no one can ever know.