Linton had slid from his seat on to the hearthstone, and lay writhing in the mere perverseness of an indulged plague of a child, determined to be as grievous and harassing as it can.

Another worry is that the red swamp invader has helped unleash a deadly fungal disease on native crayfish populations around Europe—a plague to which it is, itself, resistant.

Clare looked at her keenly, then, gathering her meaning, flagged like one plague-stricken, and his glance sank; it fell on her hands, which, once rosy, were now white and more delicate.