BooksBarbecue
Back The Art of Dying Save as PDF
Chapters (90)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. 1849
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. EDINBURGH
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  81. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  82. SEVENTY-NINE
  83. EIGHTY
  84. EIGHTY-ONE
  85. EPILOGUE
  86. HISTORICAL NOTE
  87. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  88. Extract from A Corruption of Blood
  89. 1850
  90. ONE

‘It’s more than I merit, for your condition has baffled me,’ the doctor replied, shaking his head.

‘You look tired,’ Mrs Combe told him, seemingly unperturbed by the lack of a diagnosis; concerned more for her physician than for herself.

‘Well, I was six flights up in a room on the Cowgate last night, trying to save a poor woman who had been badly mauled by her husband. I happened to meet the police and they asked me to look at her. I think she’ll live.’

Dr Simpson ran a hand through his tousled hair and then roused himself, standing up with some effort and rubbing his lower back. ‘Forgive me,’ he said. ‘A touch of sciatica.’

He walked to the desk and wrote down a prescription while Sarah dressed a sore on the patient’s shin. ‘Though the diagnosis eludes me, I hope this might provide some relief from your symptoms,’ he said.

The lady began to rummage about in the little bag she carried. Dr Simpson placed a hand on her arm.

‘Put your money away. I will take no fee,’ he said. ‘I have done nothing. I deserve nothing.’

Sarah wondered if he had been made aware of the hole in the household finances and, more importantly, whether he knew who was responsible for it. The old lady rose from her chair and made her way to the door.

‘Do see that you take some rest, Dr Simpson,’ she said. ‘So many in this town rely upon you – we cannot have you becoming ill.’

‘I thank you for your concern,’ he replied. ‘Ordinarily your good counsel would have to be disregarded but I am happy to say that I have found a replacement for Dr Keith. I have appointed a new assistant.’

Sarah stopped what she was doing. This was news to her too.

‘And who is this new assistant?’ the lady asked. ‘Do we know him?’

‘You might have met him before. He was my apprentice not so long ago.’

Sarah dropped the length of bandage she had just finished winding into a neat roll and it slowly unspooled as it wheeled across the floor.

‘His name is Will Raven.’

FOUR

logo missinghere was a bite in the breeze as Raven climbed from the carriage and hefted his bags down to the pavement. Late autumn in Edinburgh. He permitted himself a wry smile at its chilly embrace, like a welcome home from a relative with a grudge. Its teeth were not so sharp as they once felt, however. He used to think that the wind off the Forth was a cruel presence. That was before he had felt the gusts that whipped along the Danube.