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Doctor Thorne

Chapter 10 Sir Roger's Will

Word Count: 4396    |    Released on: 18/11/2017

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 anx

smissed, and that a stranger was to be sent for

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, y

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

nd 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 con

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

y complacently. 'Not in the least. Fill

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

l holding the doctor's hand, of which he had again got possession; 'special

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

f 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 W

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

r it while I can live; and die for it when I can live no longer. Die for it! What is that for a man to do? What is a man the

ther in madness, or else

l to be able to go to work tomorrow 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 m

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

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

de a will 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

pounds to be disposed of, the trust is far too much for any one man: besides y

no humbug from you. Remember this;

ut, Scat

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

e had any means of extricating himself from this pos

carried out, Thorne. Now I'l

ll me how you have disp

undred thousand I've in legacies, including

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

is 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 oug

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

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

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 let him five hundred a year at his own disposa

is certainly 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

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

elp it; but tha

that such a clause in your w

but I thought it right to put in something to prevent

. I think I would have named

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

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

and the paper, and all that from him, and I did it in another. It's all right enough. T

e counter-pane, and then got up to depart. 'I'll s

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

at; but about this will, Scatcherd.

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

urther speech, the

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1 Chapter 1 The Greshams of Greshamsbury2 Chapter 2 Long, Long Ago3 Chapter 3 Dr Thorne4 Chapter 4 Lessons from Courcy Castle5 Chapter 5 Frank Gresham's First Speech6 Chapter 6 Frank Gresham's Early Loves7 Chapter 7 The Doctor's Garden8 Chapter 8 Matrimonial Prospects9 Chapter 9 Sir Roger Scatcherd10 Chapter 10 Sir Roger's Will11 Chapter 11 The Doctor Drinks His Tea12 Chapter 12 When Greek Meets Greek, then Comes the Tug of War13 Chapter 13 The Two Uncles14 Chapter 14 Sentence of Exile15 Chapter 15 Courcy16 Chapter 16 Miss Dunstable17 Chapter 17 The Election18 Chapter 18 The Rivals19 Chapter 19 The Duke of Omnium20 Chapter 20 The Proposal21 Chapter 21 Mr Moffat Falls into Trouble22 Chapter 22 Sir Roger is Unseated23 Chapter 23 Retrospective24 Chapter 24 Louis Scatcherd25 Chapter 25 Sir Roger Dies26 Chapter 26 War27 Chapter 27 Miss Thorne Goes on a Visit28 Chapter 28 The Doctor Hears Something to His Advantage29 Chapter 29 The Donkey Ride30 Chapter 30 Post Prandial31 Chapter 31 The Small Edge of the Wedge32 Chapter 32 Mr Oriel33 Chapter 33 A Morning Visit34 Chapter 34 A Barouche and Four Arrives at Greshamsbury35 Chapter 35 Sir Louis Goes Out to Dinner36 Chapter 36 Will he Come Again37 Chapter 37 Sir Louis Leaves Greshamsbury38 Chapter 38 De Courcy Precepts and De Courcy Practice39 Chapter 39 What the World Says About Blood40 Chapter 40 The Two Doctors Change Patients41 Chapter 41 Doctor Thorne Won't Interfere42 Chapter 42 What Can You Give in Return43 Chapter 43 The Race of Scatcherd Becomes Extinct44 Chapter 44 Saturday Evening and Sunday Morning45 Chapter 45 Law Business in London46 Chapter 46 Our Pet Fox Finds a Tail47 Chapter 47 How the Bride was Received, and who Were Asked to