Thomas Wingfold. Volume III by George MacDonald

Leopold had begun to cough, and the fever continued. Every afternoon / came the red flush to his cheek, and the hard glitter into his eye. / His talk was then excited, and mostly about his coming trial. To / Helen it was terribly painful, and she confessed to herself that but / for Wingfold she must have given way. Leopold insisted on seeing Mr. / Hooker every time he called, and every time expressed the hope that / he would not allow pity for his weak state to prevent him from / applying the severe remedy of the law to his moral condition. But in / truth it began to look doubtful whether disease would not run a race / with law for his life, even if the latter should at once proceed to / justify a claim. From the first Faber doubted if he would ever / recover from the consequences of that exposure in the churchyard, / and it soon became evident that his lungs were more than affected. / His cough increased, and he began to lose what little flesh he had.

One day Faber expressed his conviction to Wingfold that he was / fighting the disease at the great disadvantage of having an unknown / enemy to contend with.