She was afraid too that the knowledge of
her illness might worry him, so for his sake she refused the operation,
and she kept the knowledge of her malady a secret from him. It is
perhaps a little far-fetched to say that by doing this she sacrificed
her life for her husband's sake, yet in a sense she may be said to have
done so. Her first thought, and her only thought, was always of him,
and it is literally true to say that she would at any moment cheerfully
have laid down her life that he might gain.
Isabel went to Liverpool to meet Burton on his return from Africa. He
came back with Captain Lovett Cameron. There was a great dinner given
at Liverpool to welcome the wanderers. The next day the Burtons went to
London, where they stayed for a couple of months through the season, met
many interesting people, and were entertained largely. On the last day
of July they returned to Trieste.
In September Isabel went again to Marienbad for the baths, which did
her no good. While there she wrote a letter to _Vanity Fair_ anent a
certain article which spoke of Burton and his "much-prized post." She
took occasion to point out his public services, and to show that the
"much-prized post" was "the poor, hard-earned, little six hundred a
year, well earned by forty years' hard toil in the public service."
On returning to Trieste, she entertained many friends who arrived there
for the Exhibition, and after that settled down to the usual round again.
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