King of the Castle

“Is not papa sleeping an unusually long time, Mary?” said Claude, ignoring the doctor’s remark, as she proceeded to refill his cup.

“Oh, I don’t know,” replied Mary; “I’ll go and see.”

She left the room, and Claude at once turned to the doctor.

“Do you think papa is acting rightly about the medicine he takes?”

Asher raised his eyebrows, and gave his shoulders a slight shrug.

“It makes me terribly uneasy,” said Claude. “Of course, I know very little about these matters, but I have naturally learned how the use of narcotics grows upon those who indulge in them; and papa seems to fly more and more to that chloral.”

The doctor pursed up his lips in the most professional way.

“Really, my dear young lady,” he said, “you are, to speak vulgarly, putting me in a corner.”

“Pray do not trifle with me, doctor. You cannot think how I suffer.”

“I will be perfectly frank with you, my child. No he is not acting rightly, and the use of this drug is doing him harm.”

“Ah!” ejaculated Claude; and then, with eyes flashing and an indignant look, “How can you let him go on taking it, then?”

“Because I cannot help myself, my dear madam; and as I have before observed, it is better that he should take it under my supervision than left to himself, though even now I am helpless. I prescribe certain quantities, but I cannot prevent his taking more.”

“But why don’t you tell him that it is bad for him?”

“I have done so a score of times.”

“And what does he say?”

“That I am a fool, and am to mind my own business.”

“Oh!” ejaculated Claude, with the troubled look in her face increasing.

“He tells me plainly that if I do not choose to go on attending him as he wishes, he will call in some one else. My dear Miss Gartram, your father is not a man to drive; he always insists on holding the reins himself.”

“But, Doctor Asher, cannot anything be done?”

“I am doing all that is possible, my dear. I am giving him tonic medicine with the idea of counteracting any evil produced by the sedative dose he takes. If you can suggest a better line to pursue, pray let me hear it.”

“No, no,” said Claude sadly; “I am very ignorant and helpless. Does he really require this medicine?”

“Yes, and no, my child. He suffers terribly from insomnia, and nothing can be worse for a weary man than to be lying sleepless, night after night. It is a serious complaint.”

“Yes,” sighed Claude.

“He must have sleep, and to my mind the chloral seems the best thing to get it.”

“But you said yes and no, doctor?”

“I did. Well, then, no. Your father does not require this medicine if he will only change his course of life.”

Claude sighed.

“Do you wish me to speak plainly as your friend?”

“Yes; of course.”

“Then here is the case. All this insomnia is the consequence of an over-excited brain. Your father has certain ideas, and unfortunately they grow upon him. He has struggled hard to be rich. Now, of course, I know very little about his affairs, but everything points to the fact that he is a very rich man.”

“Yes,” sighed Claude; “he is, I think, very rich.”

“We will take it to be so. Well, then, why cannot he be content, and not be constantly striving for more?” Claude sighed again.

“I like money, wealth, power, and the rest of it; and I could go into London, say, and work up a prosperous practice; but I am happy here, with just enough for my needs; so I say to myself, ‘why should I stir?’”

“You are right, doctor. But my father’s case – what can we do?”

“I’ll tell you. Let me have your co-operation more. I want him weaned from this hunt for wealth; and the only way to achieve this is for you and your cousin to give way to him in everything. Never thwart him, for fear of bringing on one of those terrible fits.”

“I will try in every way,” replied Claude.

“Any opposition to his will would be seriously hurtful. Then, as to his life, it really rests with you to wean him in every way from his present pursuits. Company, visits, travel, anything to diver his attention from the constant struggle for more of the sordid dross.”

“But if you told him all this, doctor? I feel so helpless.”

“I have told him again and again, without success, but if we all combine more and more to keep up the pressure, we may win at last.”

“And in the meantime?”

“In the meantime we can quiet our consciences with the knowledge that we are doing what is right.”

“Fast asleep, dear,” said Mary, entering the room just then; and Claude directed an uneasy look at the doctor.

“Papa does not often sleep so long as this,” said Claude, after an uneasy interval.

“But it seemed a pity to disturb him,” replied Mary, and the doctor bent his head gravely. “He seemed to be so comfortable. Woodham was there when I went in. She had been shutting the window, as it was growing chilly.”

“Quite right,” said the doctor.

“She said she had been in before to remove the coffee cups; and I waited some time to see if he would wake, but, as he did not, I came away. That’s what is the matter with uncle.”

The doctor looked round sharply.

“Sleeping in the day time, and in the evenings. Why doesn’t he save it all up till night?”

They sat a few minutes longer, and then, unable to keep back the feeling of uneasiness which troubled her, Claude rose, excused herself, and left the drawing-room to see if her father was awake.

“Still asleep?” said Mary, as she returned.