Читать книгу On the Brink of a Chasm: A record of plot and passion онлайн

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“Is Sir Richard here?” she asked after a moment.

“No, he has gone. By the way, nurse, don’t throw away that last bottle of medicine.”

“You had better take it with you, Dr. Tarbot.”

“No, I will not do that. Leave it where it can be got when the moment arrives. Put it into the cupboard and lock the cupboard. Mrs. Pelham will not change the arrangement of the room for some time. I shall write a certificate of death in the morning.”

Once again Tarbot strode up to the bed and looked at the body. The child was now faintly smiling with that ineffable smile of peace which death seems always to give. Heaving a brief sigh of satisfaction, Tarbot turned on his heel and left the room.

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It was certified that Piers Pelham, baronet, aged seven, had come by his death owing to cardiac failure. The certificate to this effect was duly signed by the well-known Dr. Tarbot, one of the cleverest and most rising doctors in Harley Street. The great specialists who had been called in to see the child expressed no surprise when they heard of the death; only one of them remarked that he did not think the end would have come quite so soon.