Doctor Thorne

oger'

r within the passage than he heard the sick man's bell ring violently; and then the servant, passing him on the staircase, received orders to send a mounted messenger i

doctor to get out of the house without such, let him wish it ever so much? There were words; and these were protracted, while th

a bad wife or a bad woman. She was painfully, fearfully, anxious for that husband of hers, whom she honoured and worshipped, as it behoved her to do, above all other men. She was fearfully an

smissed, and that a stranger was to be sent fo

r apron up to her eyes, "you ain

etiquette would not permit him to remain in attendance on her husband

's etiquette to do with it when a ma

bid that quite as s

he. "Fiddlesticks!

of thorough confidence on the one side, and thorough distrust

ll bear the brunt of it. He can't do much now he ain't up, yo

eavoured to explain to the anxious wife, that after what had passed h

d then by degrees you can come round him, eh?

our had nearly passed between his leaving Sir Roger's bedroom and putting his foot in the stirrup. But no sooner had the cob begun to move on

aid Mr Winterbones, screeching out of the window

his sick-bed, so loudly that the doctor heard him,

re emphasis, evidently conceiving that there was a strength of inju

ht, we will not say; but the doctor did slowly, and as though unwillingly,

mself, "for that messenger ha

rst words which the contractor said to him

angry at the impertinent petulance of the man before him: "you should co

enance quite different from any that he had shown that day; a countenance in which there was a sh

complacently. "Not in the least. Fillgr

at all, I suppo

r wife, your servant, any one can be as good a doctor to you as either he or I; as good, that is, in the main poin

e," said he, "if you like it, I'll make them put Fillgrave under the pum

e the suggestion; and, joined to this, there was a gleam of comic satisfaction in his eye which seemed to promise, that if he received the least encouragement he would put his threat into ex

heavens! if you'll only say t

say the word, and so

holding the doctor's hand, of which he had again got possession; "specially

en on the other side, and that he had never lost his good-humour; so he m

the room, Winterbones," he then said, gruffly, as though he were dismissing from his chamber a

manner from any that he had yet assumed. "I know you're in a hurry, but you mus

e hoped to have many a half-hour's c

stop now, at any rate. You can m

n. Thus entreated to stop, he had h

u, Thorne; do you think I don't know what it is that makes me like this? When I see that poor wretch,

atcherd! Scatcherd!" and the doctor prepared to pour out the flood of his elo

tor? Abstain. Can you abstain from breathi

ot ordered you to

why should I not drink? What else has the world given me for all that I

d wealth? Can you not do anything

ave anything to say about a railway, they will ask me a question: if they speak to me beyond that, I must be dumb. If I go among my workmen, can they talk to me? No; I am their master, and a stern master. They bob their heads and shake in their shoes when they see me. Where are my friends? Here!" said he, and he

his, that Dr Thorne shrank back amazed

last; "surely you would not d

it! What is that for a man to do? Do not men die for a shilling a day? What is a man the worse for dying?

ther in madness, or else

ll to be able to go to work to-morrow with a hod and mortar, and have a fellow clap his hand upon my shoulder, and say: 'Well, Roger, shall us have that 'ere other half-pint this morning?' I'll tell you what, Thorne, when a

his patient. Not that anything he could say would comfort or console the man; but that it was impossible to

w I could come out like one of those actor fellows. Well, now, come; at last I'll

will made b

about it. In that will I had named two executors, you and Jackson. I was then partner with Jackson in

actly in the

s nothing without money; b

't make money,"

my other will, there, under that desk the

unds to be disposed of, the trust is far too much for any one man: besides you m

have no humbug from you. Remember thi

but, Sc

o consult you about that. You are named as executor, and if you have t

had any means of extricating himself from this posi

carried out, Thorne. Now I'l

ll me how you have disp

ndred thousand I've left in legacies, includ

ft the house to

live in it now she has got it. I have provided for her; it matters not how. The h

d thousand pounds

s property to his heir? Why should not I make an eldest son as well as Lord de Courcy or the Duke of Omnium? I suppose a railway contractor ough

ain that what he had really meant was this, that Sir Roger Scatcherd's son wa

ut had become strong neither in mind nor body. His father had determined to make a gentleman of him, and had sent to Eton and to Cambridge. But even this receipt, generally as it is recognised, will not make a gentleman. It is hard, indeed, to define wha

s, the search should be made in the families of democrats. None have so servile a deference for the very nail-parings of royalty; none feel so wondering an awe at the exaltation of a crowned head; none are so anxious to secure themselves so

im abroad to travel with a tutor. The doctor had from time to time heard tidings of this youth; he knew that he had already shown symptoms of his father's vices, but no symptoms o

n surprise, when he heard that his father intended to bequeath the bulk

have a right to do as I like with it.

that he did not at al

standing what was passing within his companion's breast. "Let a young fellow so

d-oats operation is carried on in so violent a manner as to leave no strength in the soil for the produ

tion to make the money, but I haven't the gumption to spend it. My son, however, shall be able to ruffle it with the best of them. I'll go bail he shall hold hi

esham; but with her ladyship it might almost be a question whether she did not love the y

ten or twenty years, as we hope you may, it will become unnecessary; but

er his head; eh, doctor? But, mind, that's a medical s

at could he say on such a su

end on any man; I have therefore left him five hundred a year at his own dispos

certainly is not mu

Hill, and the Greshamsbury mortgage, and those other mortgages-I have tied up in this way: they shall be all his at twenty-five; and up to that age it shall be i

ss Thorne, and, consequently, the wife of the respectable iro

s forehead, and that he could hardly control his feelings. "Mary's eldest child! Scatcherd, you s

never heard the n

mean a boy

care which it is. A girl would probably do best with it. Only you'd ha

octor. "Louis will be five-a

ut four

Scatcherd, you are not going to leave

p it, doctor; but

that such a clause in your w

but I thought it right to put in something to prevent

. I think I would have named

. That's my lookout. And now, doctor, you know my will; and if

said the eldest c

it here, and I'l

particular, Scatcherd; you should, indeed. Consider what

heard them. But the eldest is the eldest, all the world over. Perhaps I

himself in a hurry, he now seemed inclined to move very leisurely. He sat there by the bedside, resting his hands on his knees and gazing unconsciously at the counterpane.

t? Isn't her eldest living child plain en

lawyer say to t

d all that from him, and had him here, in one room, while Winterbones and I did it in another. It's all

e counterpane, and then got up to depart. "I'll se

e should talk of returning so soon. "To-morrow! why I ain't so bad

at; but about this will, Scatcherd.

t the least. And who knows-maybe, I may be settling your affairs yet; eh, doctor? looking

urther speech, the