The Mother's Recompense by Edith Wharton

Chris Fenno stood in the drawing-room. The servant who received him had / turned on a blast of lamps and wall-lights, and in the hard overhead / glare he looked drawn and worn, like a man recovering from severe / illness. His clothes, too, Kate fancied, were shabbier; everything in / his appearance showed a decline, a defeat.

She had not much believed in his illness when Nollie spoke of it; the / old habit of incredulity was too strong in her. But now his appearance / moved her. She felt herself responsible, almost guilty. But for her / folly, she thought, he might have been standing before her with a high / head, on easy terms with the world.