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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

‘No, Trinity. A fine house with a view of the Forth, apparently.’ Archie looked over at her and smiled. ‘I wonder who’s to inherit? Whoever it is, I’d be checking their pockets for arsenic.’

Sarah laughed, though she still felt an instinctive wariness of inviting disapproval in doing so. She could not have said whose: it was a legacy of her years as a housemaid. Archie was aware of it, and thus relished her response to his remark.

Archie laughed all the time, despite everything. It was one of the reasons he and Simpson got on so well.

He folded up the newspaper, put it down on the table and picked up the Monthly Journal of Medical Science. Sarah had noticed that, since he had started taking small doses of morphine for the pain in his throat, he could seldom concentrate on any one thing for long.

He turned the pages and sighed. ‘Oh dear. Another letter.’

‘Not the mattress dispute again?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘Who is it this time?’

‘Professor Miller. It really is unconscionable. Such spats do the profession no good at all. And I don’t believe the pages of the medical journals are the place to air such petty and personal grievances. They really should know better.’

‘It is little more than gossip. What evidence do they have to support such accusations?’

‘The upholsterer, Mr Hardie, has seemingly confirmed that the patient’s mattress was stained with blood.’

‘That is hardly conclusive. If they are claiming that she died of haemorrhage, the quantity of blood is more pertinent than its mere presence. The most apposite organ in this matter would appear to be the spleen, and I do not mean that of the late patient.’

Archie smiled and nodded his agreement, a sight that warmed her. She liked to make him happy. They liked to make each other happy. But as always, when she thought of that happiness, it prompted a corresponding sorrow.

She wondered how long they would have together. Perhaps all married couples did that, from time to time. But not every day.

SIX

logo missingf I made a mistake, it was in killing four members of the same family.

I can appreciate in retrospect how that might have seemed conspicuous. Perhaps I was blinded by my desires, but in mitigation, such a tragedy would not necessarily be deemed worthy of note. People in the same household die all the time. Whole families died when the last epidemic swept the city.