Yet, from what I had seen of the corpse's position, in the rapid view
I had of it, perched on the upright mass of sward, I did not
understand how this could be.
And so anxiety after anxiety delayed my progress. Still, on the
whole, I felt that the body would not now be dislodged by the tides,
and that Winifred would at least be spared a misery compared with
which even her uncertainty about her father's fate would be bearable.
But how I longed to be up and with her!
Dr. Mivart, who attended me, a young medical man of much ability who
had finished his medical education in Paris, and had lately settled
at Raxton, came every day with great punctuality.
One day, however, he arrived three hours behind his usual time, and
seemed to think that some explanation was necessary.
'I must apologise,' said he, 'for my unpunctuality to-day, but the
fact is that, at the very moment of starting, I was delayed by one of
the most interesting--one of the most extraordinary cases that ever
came within my experience, even at the Salpetriere Hospital, where we
were familiar with the most marvellous cases of hysteria--a seizure
brought on by terror in which the subject's countenance mimics the
appearance of the terrible object that has caused it.
Pages:
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242