"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.
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