One of these was Dr. Hanshaw's sister, a Mrs. Haldean, the
widow of a wealthy Manchester cotton factor; the second was her niece by
marriage, Miss Lucy Haldean, a very handsome and charming girl of
twenty-three; while the third was no less a person than Master Fred, the
only child of Mrs. Haldean, and a strapping boy of six.
"It is quite like old times--and very pleasant old times, too--to see
you sitting at our breakfast-table, Dr. Jervis." With these gracious
words and a friendly smile, Mrs. Hanshaw handed me my tea-cup.
I bowed. "The highest pleasure of the altruist," I replied, "is in
contemplating the good fortune of others."
Mrs. Haldean laughed. "Thank you," she said. "You are quite unchanged, I
perceive. Still as suave and as--shall I say oleaginous?"
"No, please don't!" I exclaimed in a tone of alarm.
"Then I won't. But what does Dr. Thorndyke say to this backsliding on
your part? How does he regard this relapse from medical jurisprudence to
common general practice?"
"Thorndyke," said I, "is unmoved by any catastrophe; and he not only
regards the 'Decline and Fall-off of the Medical Jurist' with
philosophic calm, but he even favours the relapse, as you call it.
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