LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2378, 16 November 1881, Page 4

LITERATURE.

MY UNFORTUNATE PATIENT. FEO.II TUE NOTE-BOOK OF A LONDON DOCTOE, [From “Chambers Journal.”] (Concluded.) 4 Who are you ?’ echoed one of them, evidently more than slightly elevated. 4 I am Mr Meredith’s doctor,’ I replied sternly, ‘ and I shall know the meaning of this. What are yon doing here ?’ ‘Why,’ he replied, in a half-tipsy tone, ‘ we are a-looking after the gent in that ’ere apartment—wrong here, yon know’—tapping his head— ‘ wary wiolent at times—takes Joe and me all onr time to sort him ’ ‘ Have you been often here ?’ I asked. ‘ Every night as we are asked—ain’t we, Joe ? And we does do it pleasant. Lady and geraman out—at theatre, and hopperers, and all that sort—plenty meat, plenty grog, good fire—no disturbance—go away morning, come baok night again—and so on, etcoterer. What has you got to say again it ?’ I was utterly shocked by the speech and conduct of the men, bnt thought it wise lo make no disturbance at that moment, and only asked for a light. It was no wonder that my medicines failed to soothe the poor fellow, if this wos his usual fate. I found him cold and trembling, and upon my speaking kindly to him he burst into a flood of hysterical tears. 4 Yon mean well by me, don’t you ?’ he nervously inquired. ‘Of course I do,’ I answered, patting him, as I might have soothed and patted an infant.

* Then get me away from here,’ said he ; ‘ they are killing me. They say I’m mad, doctor ; but I am as sane as you are, only weak—oh. so weak.’

‘ I will do all I can for you,’ I answered ; ‘bnt yenr wife would cot injure you ?’ ‘Ah!’ he cried in an agonised tone, ‘my wife.’

■‘l will speak to her to-morrow,’ I said, ‘and we will arrange some change for you. Do not bo nervous. You are safe—perfectly safe.’

‘ They are killing mo,’ he still repeated—‘killing me.’ But for the shock I had got on discovering the hands Into which his wife confided him, I should almost have been inclined to think, from the steady monotone he kept up, that his mind wss effected. Under the circumstances, suoh custodians would have made any one feel queer, to say the least of it, I could not leave him to the half-intoxi-cated men ; so I sent for the housekeeper, and told her I would consider her responsible for Mr Meredith’s safety, 1 waa certain Mrs Meredith would make other arrangements when she heard what I had to say. Meanwhile, I desired the fire to bo relighted, and ordered some nourishment, to be immediately given to the invalid. ‘I will sir,” she promised ; ‘ but I know it’s just as much as my place Is worth. Mr Stretton’s orders are that none of us comes near these rooms.’

‘ And my orders are that you remain in them.’

I felt that she was friendly to her master ; and I saw he looked relieved when I briefly detailed the arrangements I had made, espepecially that I had ordered the two men downstairs, and that they were not to come np again that night. Just as I was preparing to leave, I saw he wanted to say something to me. I approached the bed, and the thin hands clntched at my coat, dragging me down closely to his face. ‘ Write to my sister,’ he whispered ; ‘they ore killing me by inches.’ ‘Whore la she? who is she? 1 asked; ‘where does she live 7’

‘ Mrs Eoyston,’ he whispered, Manor End, Surrey. Send for her.’ ‘ I will,’ I said ; ‘rest assired I will.’ And then he sank back like a weary, bnt satisfied child.

The light of the gas, which fell now fnlly upon him, showed me his countenance better than I had before seen it. He was unshaven, which “gave him a grisly look ; the cheeks were pale and sunken, and the eyes had great hollow circles. Ho was rapidly growing worse ; and what was more I had suddenly formed the suspicion that he was the victim of some kind of slow and subtle poisoning. I decided on requesting Mrs Meredith to let me have a consultation with one of the first London physicians on the following day, and also to insist upon her allowing me to engage a nurse for him, in whose kindness and trustworthiness I conld place implicit confidence, I wonld not mince matters with her ; I wonld do my duty to my patient. In the meantime I wrote to his sister as he desired.

I called at my usual time, perhaps a little earlier, on tho following day, and was received by Mrs Meredith in the moat chilling way imaginable. I could scarcely recognise in the insolent woman before mo the softvoiced Mrs Meredith who had hitherto received me so graciously, and seemed to hang so anxiously upon my opinions respecting the invalid.

‘I heard yon were here last night,’ quoth she ; ‘ may I enquire for what reason ?’ * A most natural one/ I returned ; 4 1 felt anxious about your husband, and nothing conld have been more fortunate for him than my visit. ’ ‘That is quite a matter of opinion, Dt Darrell.

I was myself both surprised and displeased when 1 heard that yon had actually taken It upon yourself to give orders contrary to mine,’ • I think you must be under a mistake, Mrs Meredith,’ I said ; ‘I found my patient in suoh a condition, and in tho charge of such people, that I simply did what I considered right, and what you yourself would have approved of. I found Mr Meredith in a state of nervous tremor which was.sufficient to inflict serious injury upon him, in his weak and, I must say, unaccountable condition. I am not satisfied at all with tho progress ho has made, and I must request that you will allow mo to have a consultation with one of oar leading physicians, and also that Mr Meredith has a proper attendant. The idea of his being entrusted to the men I saw hero last night is not to be countenanced for one moment. Has he had a good night ? I should like to see him.’ * I do not choose that yon should see him again,* she answered, 4 I consider that yon have very far exceeded your duty ; and I must have a doctor who knows his place and keeps it. Yon do not suit mo, Mr Darrell, and I shall discharge my obligations to you as soon as you send in your bill. Good-morning,’ and sho glided off with a haughty gesture into the inner drawing-room, where, ensconced in an easy choir, was her cousin Mr Henry Strettrn. Of course, after such a dismissal, I could not attempt to see Mr Meredith ; but the veil was pretty effectually withdrawn from my eyes. I saw that my patient had only one chance for his life—and that was through the prompt interference of his slater, Mrs Royston, Do what I liked, I could not get the idea out of my head that my patient was being secretly poisoned. If Mrs Royston waa unable to get her brother removed from the house in which he now lay, I should at once place the matter before a magistrate. That same evening I had a telegram from Mrs Boyston, and next morning she came. I fonnd her to be a most kindly, sensible person, and moat genuinely anxious about her brother. Her husband was an invalid, she said; bnt she had come at once, being all anxiety to hear what I had to communicate. * I knew It must be about my brother,’ she continued ; * I have written again and again to him, bat received no answer ; and as 1 am not on good terms with his wife, of coarse I could not go to see him ’ 4 You ought to go now,’ I replied, * and Insist upon seeing him. He is very, very ill’ And then I proceeded to tell her of my evening visit, and of his entreaty that I should write to her. Here she burst into tears.

I did not think it prudent, however, to say anything to her at this time as to the suspicions of poisoning which I bad begun to entertain. But I spoke to her of my subsequent dismissal by Mrs Meredith, • It is just what she would do,’ said Mrs Royston; * she forced a quarrel upon me directly sho was married, and has latterly quite succeeded in estranging my brother and myself. She was a Miss Delacour when he met her, and lived with an aunt, a Mrs Stretton. Clarice was an orphan, and very poor, I heard she was ergaged to Mrs Stratton’s son ; but when my brother came upon the scene she threw young Stretton over, and married him. Poor Montague waa perfectly infatuated about her ; but I soon saw his marriage had not turned oat happily.’ ' Has she handsome settlements ?’ I asked.

* Ob, yes; two thousand a year as his widow, Bnt I understand she has since got him to make another will leaving her everything he is possessed of, nnoonditionally.’ 4 And this Mr Stretton, whom I have seen living at the house ’ 1 Is the son of her aunt Mrs Stretton, whom she threw over for my brother, _ He was educated to follow your own profession,’ she added, ‘ and was considered skilful and clever, bnt his unprincipled oonduot formed an insuperable barrier to bis success, and I believe for tho last year he has hung about my brother’s house, and of late, 1 am told, has quite taken up his abode there,’ 4 You are quite, sure about his being a doctor ?’ I said. 4 Quite sure,’ waa the reply.

Here was the key to it all, I thought. 4 Well, Mrs Royston,’ I said, 4 if you will take my advice, yon will simply drive straight from here to Grovenor Gardens, and Insist upon seeing your brother. Will yon pardon me if 1 ask you a question respecting yonr family. * Certainly. Anything you like. ’ ‘ls there hereditary insanity on either side,’

‘ Insanity V she exclaimed; ‘ certainly not.’

1 inwardly trembled still more for Mr Meredith; but Mrs Royston was eager to set off to see him, and 1 was hardly less anxious to see her go. She returned late in the afternoon to tell me she had gene there, and that on asking for Mr Meredith there had been a long parley and delay ; finaUy, the butler informed her that Mr Meredith was to nnwell to see her. She said she must see him. He was her brother; and if it were only for a few minutes, she insisted upon being admitted. Bnt an order came to say Mrs Meredith would not permit anyone to enter the honse. She then drove to Mr Meredith’s own solicitor, who was unfortunately out of town ; however, hla partner received her, and listened with great kindness and attention to her story, while she referred him to me for the condition of her brother.

4 What can Ido ? she asked; 4 how can I insist upon seeing him V ‘1 fear you cannot insist,’ said he, ‘unless you have sufficient grounds to allege that there ia something unfair going on. You must be very careful; and remember that the wife is all powerful as regards the personal custody of her husband.’ ‘ What am I do, Mr Darrell ?’ she indignantly exclaimed, on her next visit to me ; * how can I rescue mv brother ?' ‘I wish I knc-w, r I replied, lolling with Indignation at the whole affair. ’ ‘I will go back again,’ said she, ‘and I will tell them that if I am not admitted to see my brother, I will apply to a magistrate.’ It was late In the afternoon now; bnt Mrs Royston was too anxious about Mr Meredith to think of herself. She had brought her maid with her, so, under that protection, I once more saw her off. She did not retnrn till nearly eight o’clock, looking the very image of despair. * Oh, Mr Darrell,’ she cried, ‘ I need not apologise for coming back to you. lam iu such distress. 1 have telegraphed for my brother-in-law, Charles Royston, to come up to me. My brother has been taken away from Grosvenor Gardens ; they are all gone; and the servants declare they know nothing beyond the fact that the invalid was removed this afternoon —Mrs Meredith and Mr Stretton leaving at a later hour. Where can they have taken him to V ‘ They have taken him to a Innatic asylum,’ I said mentally ; ‘it will be safer for them if he dies there.’

But I could not add to poor Mrs Royston’s distress farther than to urge upon her the necessity for immediate action. Next day I had a long interview with Mr Charles Eoyston. He enlightened me still further respecting Mrs Meredith and her cousin ; and we came to the determination that something must be done quickly. Of course, I did not accompany them to their solicitors ; but I heard hia opinion was, that they were unnecessarily anxious, and he reminded Mrs Royston that, according to law, the wife was not to be lightly interfered with. However, circumstances favoured us. I happened to be driving past Grosvenor Gardens, when at a crossing I caught sight of the housekeeper into whose hands I had entrusted Mr Meredith on the last occasion when I had seen him. Quick as thought, I pulled the check-string, and jumped out. I came to my point pretty quickly. I wanted to know where her master was.

1 Well, sir, there’s no doubt where he is. He is at H—— ;’ naming a private lunatic asylum. ‘ Poor gentleman, we all said it waa a shame 1 But, after you left, Mr Stretton he went off and brings in two doctors ; and the thing was settled soon enough. My mistress saw them first ; and then they went upstairs to see the master ; and than Robson and Jones —the two men you saw in the dressing-room—got their orders to dress Mr Meredith as well as they could; and he was driven away. They carried him into the carriage.’ • And did Mrs Meredith go with them V

«Oh no, sir. She is off somewhere else. It was Robson let out to me where the master was -going; and I hope it won’t go no farther.’

‘ You need not be afraid,’ I said ; 4 I will promise that Mrs Boyston will hold you. harmless. But, in the cause of humanity you must give us all the assistance you can

in order to release Mr Meredith,’ She then said—

‘ Forrest is my name, sir—Mrs Forrest. And I may ns well tell you where my mistress is. She wont down to Brighton.’

‘Well, good-day to you for the present, Mrs Forrest. Here is my direction. But you will probably hear from me shortly.’ And I drove off.

As may be surmised, I lost not a moment in communicating my information to Mr Charles Royston, who, happily for his sister-in-law and Mr Meredith, was a man of energy and decision, as well as prudent and far-seeing. Ho soon settled upon a course of action. It waa useless to go to the asylum and demand Mr Meredith; useless to apply to magistrates until another course had failed ; and beyond all, it was useless to delay a day or an hour, when the sands of the unhappy patient’s life were swiftly ebbing away. Accompanied by his solicitor, he went to Grosvenor Gardena, and there summoned all tho servants together and briefly stated his case. Like most evildoers, Mrs Meredith had b tray od herself ; and at the first movement in favor of their master, the servants one aLer another pave testimony against her. Before he left the house, Mr Royston had amply sufficient grounds for believing that he would succeed In getting tho guardianship of Mr Meredith taken out of her hands. Tho next morning he started for Brighton, and surprised Mrs Meredith, not altogether pleasurably, in tho middle of a sumptuous breakfast, to which she and Mr Stretton wero apparently doing ample justice. At first she treated Mr Royston very much as she had treated me, with arrogant insolence, In which Mr Stretton supported her; but they found that their visitor meant business. He was very quiet and very cool, and kept to his point with steady persistence. He began by asking her upon what grounds she had prevented Mrs Royston from seeing her brother ; and Mrs Meredith, who did not dream how much was know, replied defiantly—‘Simply because I do not choose that she should see him.’

* And It is simply because yon choose, that Montagu Meredith ia now at H , the sane inmate of a lunatio asylum ? Now, we shall understand each other, he continued ; ‘ I have come hero beccuse I know everything—because I hold evidence that will take Mr Meredith out of power for ever. Your servants have come forward—your secrets are known —and I hold a power over you both,’ turning towards Mr Stretton, who paled visibly; 4 bnt, for Meredith’s sake, we want no unnecessary disclosures in public. If be lives, you have less to fear. If he dies, tho law will decide. In tho meantime, before I leave this room, yon mast give me a written authority to authorise me to withdraw Mr Meredith from H , and to place him under tho care of his sister. That la all I ask at present.’ And he got It, He came back in triumph; and I accompanied Mrs Eoyston and himself down to H —, where we found Mr Meredith still alive, and keenly conscious of his terrible situation. He wept like a child In his sister’s arms, clung to her in tremulous terror, and besought her never to leave him, not to let him die there. She was deeply affected, but restrained herself nobly, while we settled matters with the doctor there, who had received the patient at the request of his wife, and on the verdict of two other medical men. These signatures being sufficient to incarcerate the sanest, the asylum doctor was free from all blame in the matter, and Mr Meredith bad been subjected to no unkind treatment at his hands. But in his enfeebled state—to be watched day and night by an attendant, treated as a Innatic, separated from all his friends, and feeling himself in an asylum, was enough—more than enough—to drive him into actual madness. Whether my suspicions relative to secret poisoning were correct or not, they wero greatly strengthened and confirmed by the tidings that Mrs Meredith _ and her cousin had vanished, taking her jewel-case and a large sum of money with them. They had been careful, before leaving Grosvenor Gardens, to remove or destroy everything that might lead to detection on the spore of poisoning, though my after-acquaintance with the patient and his symptoms was sufficient to convince me that his life had been assailed, and that in the subtlest way possible. After his release, the patient was taken to Manor End—there to straggle back through a painful convalescence into health again. For months and months he wavered between life and death; but his naturally strong constitution asserted itself at last. Of the subsequent career of the guilty pair no intelligence has ever reached me.