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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

‘And yet being a nurse exposes her to further suffering, and to death. So many of our patients die, and so many of Mary’s patients have died recently. How does she cope, I wonder, when she has had to endure so much herself?’

Sarah had hoped to provoke some acknowledgement or comment about all the recent deaths, some of which Dr Fowler had been involved with himself. But he did not respond in the way she had hoped.

Rather, he seemed energised.

‘It is something one learns to come to terms with. Sometimes the best you can do for your patient is to give them a good death. It can be a great blessing. It is often said that it is a privilege to be present at a birth, but I believe that the same could be said about a death. In both cases we bear witness to the moment when an individual passes from one realm to the next. At that precise instant we are closer to God than we will ever be until we die ourselves.’

Sarah felt a little disturbed by this pronouncement and decided it was time to leave. There was something distinctly odd about this man, and she could not bring herself to ask any further questions. He was unlikely to discuss the details of the patients he had attended with her anyway. She would leave that to Raven. She downed what remained of the cordial by way of indicating that her visit was at an end.

‘Thank you for your time,’ she said as she made for the door.

‘Until we meet again,’ Dr Fowler replied, following in her wake.

Sarah rather hoped that they wouldn’t.

SIXTY-ONE

logo missingarah was finally on her way home to Albany Street when she began to feel weak. She was now, as he had predicted, grateful for the drink Dr Fowler had given her. She had walked further and for longer than she intended, trying to visit as many of the addresses on Dr Fowler’s list as possible.

She had spoken to people in two households who had employed Mary Dempster and had visited three others where nobody had been home. By the last of these, she had resolved to follow Raven’s example and have calling cards printed.

She wondered what she would put on them. Should she be Mrs Sarah Banks or Sarah Fisher? A part of her thought it would be disloyal or ungrateful to reject Archie’s surname after he had done so much for her. And yet, it is what he wanted, and therefore the truly disrespectful thing would be to refuse his wishes. She knew that it hadn’t always been this way: a wife taking her husband’s name. Not in Scotland anyway. Perhaps it was time to revisit the old ways of doing things.