An affliction of the joints had made Mr. Bell so stiff that even the stairs could daunt him. (affliction: ailment, disorder, malady; daunt: intimidate, discourage, deter) He spent his recuperation on the ground floor, where the old hotel lobby served as his sitting room. (recuperation: recovery, convalescence, restoration) To lie recumbent all day sounded restful to the bellboy. (recumbent: reclining, lying down, decumbent) After a week of enforced inactivity, Bell missed the strenuous business of carrying tea up six flights. (strenuous: arduous, demanding, taxing)
The porter noticed his lassitude and his growing despondency. (lassitude: fatigue, lethargy, listlessness; despondency: despondence, dejection, discouragement) A string of visitors with the same solemn face could enervate a man further. (solemn: grave, serious, sober; enervate: debilitate, exhaust, weaken) She asked whether he might like some ordinary work while he tried to recuperate. (recuperate: recover, convalesce, mend) Surely his retentive memory could still tell her which bell belonged to which room. (retentive: retaining, tenacious, recollective)
She carried down the brass indicator board. The malady had done nothing to impair his hearing. (malady: ailment, illness, disorder; impair: weaken, diminish, damage) At each ring he called out a room; at each delivery someone brought back a scrap of news. By evening he was tired enough to sleep, with a different disposition toward the long weeks ahead. (disposition: attitude, outlook, inclination)