She was not equal to the exertion of talking to us, and our visit to
the sick room was a very short one, Aunt Cassandra soon taking us
away. I do not suppose we stayed a quarter of an hour; and I never
saw Aunt Jane again.'
In May 1817 she was persuaded to remove to Winchester, for the sake of
medical advice from Mr. Lyford. The Lyfords have, for some generations,
maintained a high character in Winchester for medical skill, and the Mr.
Lyford of that day was a man of more than provincial reputation, in whom
great London practitioners expressed confidence. Mr. Lyford spoke
encouragingly. It was not, of course, his business to extinguish hope in
his patient, but I believe that he had, from the first, very little
expectation of a permanent cure. All that was gained by the removal from
home was the satisfaction of having done the best that could be done,
together with such alleviations of suffering as superior medical skill
could afford.
Jane and her sister Cassandra took lodgings in College Street. They had
two kind friends living in the Close, Mrs.
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