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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 was the second time this morning that she had forgotten her recently elevated status. The first instance, at least, had gone unwitnessed. She had caught herself making up their bed, and as she was already halfway through the process, she had seen no reason not to complete it.

She still tended to wake early and could not get used to the fact that she did not have to rise immediately and commence a slew of tasks.

Sarah sat down again and gazed out of the window. She was distracted, and she knew why.

‘Is all well, darling?’ Archie asked.

‘Yes, quite well,’ she told him, though she knew that she could not hide her unease. Archie was a close reader of her mood, one of the many things she liked about him.

‘It’s just, you seem a little restive. Could it be your mind is already at Queen Street?’

Sarah felt exposed by the suggestion, then realised what he meant. Although they had taken rooms in Albany Street, Sarah was still attending Queen Street every day. She had rendered herself indispensable, having become adept in the administration of chloroform. Dr Simpson was assessing its usefulness in all manner of complaints, from dysmenorrhoea to biliary colic. Working with the professor was something she had not been prepared to give up, and that had, as a result, formed part of their agreement.

‘Yes. I am thinking of the patient we have coming in today. Dr Simpson warned me that it might be a trying consultation.’

Sarah’s words sounded hollow emerging from her own mouth. What she said was true, but that didn’t alter the fact that she was concealing the real reason her mind was already at Queen Street.

Raven.

He was due back today and would most probably be there by the time she arrived for work that afternoon.

She had not given him much thought in such a long time. Why would she, with all that her life had become? But since finding out that he would be taking up the position vacated by Dr Keith, his return had loomed ever larger in her thoughts.

She didn’t see quite why it should. Perhaps it was not so much Raven himself as what he represented that seemed so vivid in her memory: the time not only of Dr Simpson’s great discovery, but of all that had attended it. She had taken great risks in joining Raven to unmask the most murderous villainy and deception. When people are thrown together in fraught circumstances, it is possible for them to confuse the heightened emotions they are experiencing as feelings for one another.