"For God's sake tell me the truth, Dr. Doddleson!" said Valentine in a low hoarse voice, directly they were beyond ear-shot of the house. "I am a man, and I can steel myself to hear the worst you can tell."
"But really, Hawkehurst, there is no occasion for this kind of thing," interjected Philip Sheldon; "Dr. Doddleson agrees with me, that the case is one of extreme languor, and no more."
"Unquestionably," said the doctor in a fat voice.
"And Dr. Doddleson also coincides with me in the opinion that all we can do is to wait the reviving influence of sea-air."
"Undoubtedly," said the doctor, with a solemn nod.
"And is this all?" asked Valentine hopelessly.
"My dear sir, what else can I say?" said the doctor; "as my good friend Mr. Sheldon has just remarked, there is extreme languor; and as my good friend Mr. Sheldon further observes, we must await the effect of change of air. The—aw—invigorating sea-breezes, the—aw—enlivening influence of new surroundings, and—aw—so forth. Dr. Poseidon, my dear sir, is a very valuable coadjutor."
"And you think your patient no worse, Dr. Doddleson?"
"The doctor has just left Mrs. Sheldon much comforted by his assurance that her daughter is better," said the stockbroker.
"No, no!" exclaimed Dr. Doddleson; "no, no! there my good friend Mr. Sheldon somewhat misrepresents me. I said that our patient was not obviously worse. I did not say that our patient was better. There is a dilatation of the pupil of the eye which I don't quite understand."