Thomas Wingfold. Volume III by George MacDonald

The day after his confession to Mr. Hooker, a considerable re-action / took place in Lingard. He did not propose to leave his bed, and lay / exhausted. He said he had caught cold. He coughed a little; wondered / why Mr. Wingfold did not come to see him, dozed a good deal, and / often woke with a start. Mrs. Ramshorn thought Helen ought to make / him get up: nothing, she said, could be worse for him than lying in / bed; but Helen thought, even if her aunt were right, he must be / humoured. The following day Mr. Hooker called, inquired after him, / and went up to his room to see him. There he said all he could think / of to make him comfortable; repeated that certain preliminaries had / to be gone through before the commencement of the prosecution; said / that while these went on, it was better he should be in his sister's / care than in prison, where, if he went at once, he most probably / would die before the trial came on; that in the meantime he was / responsible for him; that, although he had done quite right in / giving himself up, he must not let what was done and could no more / be helped, prey too much upon his mind, lest it should render him / unable to give his evidence with proper clearness, and he should be / judged insane and sent to Broadmoor, which would be frightful. He / ended by saying that he had had great provocation, and that he was / certain the judge would consider it in passing sentence, only he / must satisfy the jury there had been no premeditation.

"I will not utter a word to excuse myself, Mr. Hooker," replied / Leopold.