THE BEAUTIFUL PATIENT.
Ten minutes had scarcely elapsed since Lord Ellingham took his departure
from the doctor's abode, and the learned gentleman himself was still
pondering on the strange communication which had been made to him, when
a loud and hasty knock at the front-door echoed through the house.
A servant answered the summons, and in a few moments ushered Tom Rain
into the presence of Dr. Lascelles.
"Sir," said the visitor, who was painfully excited, "a female—a young
woman in whom I am deeply interested—has taken poison. Come with me this
instant, I implore you."
Dr. Lascelles snatched up his hat, and followed Rainford without pausing
to ask a single question. A hackney-coach was waiting at the door: the
two individuals leapt in; and the vehicle drove rapidly away.
The doctor now thought it expedient to make a few inquiries relative to
the case which was about to engage his attention.
"What poison has the young woman taken?" he asked.
"Arsenic," was the reply: "for I found the paper which had contained
it."
"And how long ago?"
"Ten minutes before I knocked at your door."
"Has there been any vomiting?"
"I did not delay a single moment in hastening to fetch you, after the
unhappy creature took the poison; and therefore I am unable to answer
that question."
The physician remained silent; and in a few minutes the coach stopped at
a house in South Moulton Street.
The door was opened by a servant-girl; and Rainford led the physician to
a bed-room on the second floor, whither the servant-girl followed them.
By the light of a candle placed upon a chest of drawers, Dr. Lascelles
beheld a young female of great beauty, and with no other garment on than
her night-dress, writhing in excruciating agonies upon the bed. From the
reply given by the servant-girl to a question put by the doctor, it
appeared that the young lady had been seized with violent vomiting the
moment after Tom Rain had left to procure medical aid; and Lascelles
accordingly proceeded to adopt the usual treatment which is pursued in
such cases.[1]
In the course of half an hour the patient was pronounced to be out of
danger; and Tom Rain, who had in the meantime manifested the utmost
anxiety and uneasiness, now exhibited a proportionate liveliness of joy.
"Shall I recover, sir! Oh! tell me—shall I recover?" asked the young
woman in a strange, thrilling, piteous tone, as she fixed her large dark
eyes upon the countenance of the physician.
"You are in a fair way to survive this mad—this wicked attempt upon your
life," answered Lascelles, in a compassionately reproachful rather than
a severe tone. "But you must be kept quiet—and all sources of mental
irritation must be removed or forgotten as much as possible," he added,
glancing towards Rainford.
"Oh! sir—do not imagine for a moment that _he_ will upbraid or ill-treat
me!" exclaimed the young woman, darting a fond look towards Tom Rain:
then, drawing a long and heavy respiration, she said in a different and
more subdued tone, "In justice to _him_, doctor, I must assure you that
no harshness on _his_ part urged me to this shocking deed: but——"
"Yes, my dearest girl," interrupted Rain, rushing to the bed, and taking
one of her hands which he pressed fondly to his lips, "I _did_ upbraid
you—I _did_ speak severely to you——"
"No—no—not more than I deserved!" cried the young woman: "for I was very
wrong—oh! I was very wrong! But say, Tom, can you forgive me?"
"He does forgive you—he has forgiven you," exclaimed the physician. "And
now abandon that subject, which is naturally a painful one. To-morrow
morning I shall call and see you early."
Dr. Lascelles took up his hat to depart, and Rainford followed him into
the passage, where he said in a low but earnest tone, "One word, sir, in
private! Please to step into this room."
And he conducted the physician into a front apartment, the door of which
he carefully closed.
"In the first place, sir," began Rainford when they were thus alone
together, "allow me to thank you for your prompt and effectual aid in
this most painful affair;"—and he slipped five guineas into the doctor's
hand. "Secondly, let me implore of you to grant the favour which I am
about to ask."
"Speak, sir," said Lascelles; "and if your request be not inconsistent
with my honour as a physician and as a gentleman——"
"Far from it!" exclaimed Rainford. "It is this:—Promise me, on your
solemn word of honour, _as a physician and as a gentleman_, that, when
once your professional visits here have ceased, you will forget that you
ever beheld that young woman who is lying in the next room. Promise me,
I say, in the most binding manner, that should you ever henceforth meet
her, alone or in company, you will not even appear to recognise her,
much less attempt to speak to her, unless you be formally introduced to
her, when you will consider your acquaintance with her to begin only
from the moment of such introduction. Promise me all this, sir, I
implore you—for you know not what vitally important interests may be
compromised by your conduct in this matter."
"I have not the slightest objection to tranquillise your mind by giving
the pledge which you demand," returned Dr. Lascelles, without a moment's
hesitation.
"A thousand thanks, sir!" cried Rainford joyfully. "You fully understand
the precise nature of the reserve and silence which I require?"
"Never to allude in any way to the incident of this night, nor to appear
to recognise elsewhere nor henceforth the young lady whom I have just
seen," said the doctor. "You may rely upon me: the secret shall never
transpire from my lips."
"Again I express my gratitude," cried Rainford, with undisguised
satisfaction.
Dr. Lascelles then took his leave; and, as he retraced his way to
Grafton Street, he never once ceased to think of the strange promise
which he had been required to give in respect to the beautiful creature
who had made so resolute an attempt upon her own existence.
On the following morning, shortly after eight o'clock, the physician's
cab stopped at the door of the house in South Moulton Street; but, to
his surprise, he learnt from the landlady that Mr. and Mrs. Jameson (by
which names Rainford and the young woman had been known at their
lodgings) had taken their departure at seven o'clock, before it was even
light.
"Had they resided long with you?" inquired the doctor.
"Only a week, sir," was the answer. "The lady kept herself very quiet,
and seldom went out. When she did, she always had a thick black veil
over her face; and, you may think it strange, sir—but it's true for all
that—which is, sir, that I never once caught a glimpse of her
countenance all the time she was in this house. But the servant-gal says
she was very beautiful—very beautiful indeed! _You_ must, however, be
able to judge whether that report is true or not, sir?"
"I know little, and think less of those matters, my good woman," said
the doctor hastily; and, returning to his cab, he drove off to visit
another patient.
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Footnote 1:
The first great object which we must keep in view, is to promote the
speedy evacuation of the stomach: if the poison itself has not
produced vomiting, from ten to twenty grains of sulphate of zinc must
be given if it can be readily procured; this generally acts as a
powerful emetic. If this, however, cannot be obtained, a mustard
emetic should be administered, and the vomiting promoted by drinking
large quantities of barley water, linseed tea, milk or tepid water:
the two first being of a mucilaginous nature are to be preferred;
tickling the back of the throat with a feather will often cause the
stomach to reject its contents. It frequently happens that this
treatment alone is sufficient for relief in accidents of this nature.
After the stomach has been cleansed by the emetic, &c., as described
above, lime-water, or chalk diffused in water, if it can be procured,
may be given in large quantities. Hahnemann has recommended soap to be
dissolved in water, in the proportion of a pound to four pints, and a
tea-cupful to be given every five or six minutes; this undoubtedly is
the best treatment if lime-water is not at hand. Powdered charcoal may
also be administered with advantage if the other remedies are not
immediately attainable. The above remedies may be used with some
degree of confidence, although their good effects are not sufficiently
certain to establish them as "antidotes."—_Ready Remedies in Cases of
Poisoning, &c. By James Johnson, M.R.C.S._