“Certainly,” said Mr. Lusignan. “She is in the drawing-room;” and he led the way, and was about to enter the room, when Wyman informed him it was against etiquette for him to be present at the examination.
“Oh, very well!” said he. “Yes, I see the propriety of that. But oblige me by asking her if she has anything on her mind.”
Dr. Snell bowed a lofty assent; for, to receive a hint from a layman was to confer a favor on him.
The men of science were closeted full half an hour with the patient. She was too beautiful to be slurred over, even by a busy doctor: he felt her pulse, looked at her tongue, and listened attentively to her lungs, to her heart, and to the organ suspected by Wyman. He left her at last with a kindly assurance that the case was perfectly curable.
At the door they were met by the anxious father, who came with throbbing heart, and asked the doctors' verdict.
He was coolly informed that could not be given until the consultation had taken place; the result of that consultation would be conveyed to him.
“And pray, why can't I be present at the consultation? The grounds on which two able men agree or disagree must be well worth listening to.”
“No doubt,” said Dr. Snell; “but,” with a superior smile, “my dear sir, it is not the etiquette.”
“Oh, very well,” said Lusignan. But he muttered, “So, then, a father is nobody!”
And this unreasonable person retired to his study, miserable, and gave up the dining-room to the consultation.