Wives and Daughters: An Every-Day Story - Page 34/572

He knew there was real secret harm going on all this time that people

spoke of her as a merely fanciful invalid; and that one or two

accused him of humouring her fancies. But he only smiled at such

accusations. He felt that his visits were a real pleasure and

lightening of her growing and indescribable discomfort; he knew that

Squire Hamley would have been only too glad if he had come every day;

and he was conscious that by careful watching of her symptoms he

might mitigate her bodily pain. Besides all these reasons, he took

great pleasure in the Squire's society. Mr. Gibson enjoyed the

other's unreasonableness; his quaintness; his strong conservatism

in religion, politics, and morals. Mrs. Hamley tried sometimes to

apologize for, or to soften away, opinions which she fancied were

offensive to the doctor, or contradictions which she thought too

abrupt; but at such times her husband would lay his great hand almost

caressingly on Mr. Gibson's shoulder, and soothe his wife's anxiety,

by saying, "Let us alone, little woman. We understand each other,

don't we, doctor? Why, bless your life, he gives me better than he

gets many a time; only, you see, he sugars it over, and says a sharp

thing, and pretends it's all civility and humility; but I can tell

when he's giving me a pill."

One of Mrs. Hamley's often-expressed wishes had been, that Molly

might come and pay her a visit. Mr. Gibson always refused this

request of hers, though he could hardly have given his reasons for

these refusals. He did not want to lose the companionship of his

child, in fact; but he put it to himself in quite a different way.

He thought her lessons and her regular course of employment would be

interrupted. The life in Mrs. Hamley's heated and scented room would

not be good for the girl; Osborne and Roger Hamley would be at home,

and he did not wish Molly to be thrown too exclusively upon them for

young society; or they would not be at home, and it would be rather

dull and depressing for his girl to be all the day long with a

nervous invalid.

But at length the day came when Mr. Gibson rode over, and volunteered

a visit from Molly; an offer which Mrs. Hamley received with the

"open arms of her heart," as she expressed it; and of which the

duration was unspecified.

The cause for the change in Mr. Gibson's wishes just referred to

was as follows:--It has been mentioned that he took pupils, rather

against his inclination, it is true; but there they were, a Mr. Wynne

and Mr. Coxe, "the young gentlemen," as they were called in the

household; "Mr. Gibson's young gentlemen," as they were termed in the

town. Mr. Wynne was the elder, the more experienced one, who could

occasionally take his master's place, and who gained experience by

visiting the poor, and the "chronic cases." Mr. Gibson used to talk

over his practice with Mr. Wynne, and try and elicit his opinions in

the vain hope that, some day or another, Mr. Wynne might start an

original thought. The young man was cautious and slow; he would never

do any harm by his rashness, but at the same time he would always be

a little behind his day. Still Mr. Gibson remembered that he had had

far worse "young gentlemen" to deal with; and was content with, if

not thankful for, such an elder pupil as Mr. Wynne. Mr. Coxe was a

boy of nineteen or so, with brilliant red hair, and a tolerably red

face, of both of which he was very conscious and much ashamed. He was

the son of an Indian officer, an old acquaintance of Mr. Gibson's.

Major Coxe was at some unpronounceable station in the Punjaub, at the

present time; but the year before he had been in England, and had

repeatedly expressed his great satisfaction at having placed his only

child as a pupil to his old friend, and had in fact almost charged

Mr. Gibson with the guardianship as well as the instruction of his

boy, giving him many injunctions which he thought were special in

this case; but which Mr. Gibson with a touch of annoyance assured the

major were always attended to in every case, with every pupil. But

when the poor major ventured to beg that his boy might be considered

as one of the family, and that he might spend his evenings in the

drawing-room instead of the surgery, Mr. Gibson turned upon him with

a direct refusal.