The best authorities tell you that it is hardly possible for an Englishman in the Crimea, unless he take every possible precaution, to escape infection in the summer months of July, August and September. You sin against the law of nature if you go out in the sun in the day, and you equally sin if you go out in the night dews. Such, again, is the effect of the climate, that if you partake of new corn or of fruit in undue measure, these things will bring on intermittent fever. Now, these precautions our soldiers disregard, and therefore is it that I dread the months ahead, for all our troops in the Crimea.

She knew it did not soothe her husband for her to express her fears too forcibly, and yet Alice was convinced that she must apprehend him as to the forthcoming dangers of exposure to the hot climate. It was known that there had been greater casualties as a result of infection than of battle wounds. Alice had felt a lifting of disquiet that the cold, wet season was over, with its hostile vapours and fogs. This fresh danger she had not foreseen. She set about composing a letter in which she hinted at the caution William must now attempt as regards the perilous outdoor heat of the weeks ahead. This she must convey, yet without appearing to scold. She worked hard at her writing. By the inclusion of some mention of his family and of one or two amusing little occurrences of recent weeks, she was satisfied. In answer she received from William: