“I want you to clear up a point that is bothering me,” he said. “Suppose nothing unusual had occurred to hasten my mother’s death, how long would she have lived?”
“Nothing unusual did occur,” insisted Stearn.
“Ah! I have expressed myself awkwardly. How long, then, under the most favorable conditions, could she have lived?”
“Three or four years.”
“It is possible.”
“Six?”
“I should doubt it.”
“Seven?”
“You are marching too rapidly. If Mrs. Power lived seven years with inflamed aortic valves, I should regard the fact as something akin to a miracle.”