The Stoic
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THE STOIC
the same floor, after which Lord Stane was notified. He, upon his arrival, was so shocked by Berenice’s distress that he ordered the butler to remove Cowperwood to his own suite on the second floor, and at once called his own physician, Dr. Middleton. Also the butler was instructed to insure silence on the part of all of the servants in regard to this.
In the meantime, Cowperwood was beginning to stir, and as Dr. Middleton came in, was so revived as to be conscious of the need of caution and to say to Stane that the less said about this the better, other than that he had tripped and fallen. He was sure, he said, he would be all right in the morning. Dr. Middleton, however, had a different idea about his illness, and gave him a sedative. After which he advised the sick man remain where he was for a day or two, at least, in order that he might discover whether there were any complications. For, as he said to Stane, Cowperwood’s condition was probably more serious than a fainting spell.
Chapter 61
The next morning, when Cowperwood awakened in the Stane suite, he found himself, except for the goings and comings of very courteous servants, alone for a time, and it was then that he began to run over in his mind the fairly disturbing phases of all that had so swiftly happened to him. For he was a little startled by the fact that, after having arrived at a sense of relative security in connection with his physical welfare, he should be so suddenly made aware of his illness.
Was it really true that he had fallen victim to this fatal Bright’s disease? At the time of Dr. Middleton’s call he had not been sufficiently alert to discuss this matter of his collapse. For one thing, as he now recalled, he had had the sensation of extreme shortness of breath, which finally resulted in the physical weakness which caused him to fall. Was that due to a kidney condition, as earlier described by Dr. Wayne, or was it a matter of too much champagne, too much food? The doctor, as he recalled, had impressed upon him that he was not to drink anything but water and eat very lightly.
To make sure that he was following the right course in regard to himself, he decided to have Berenice cable his old-time friend and personal physician, Dr. Jefferson James, in New
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York, to come to London at once. This trusted friend would be the one to satisfy him as to his true condition.
However, as he slowly and somewhat calmly surveyed the situation, there was a tap at the door, and Lord Stane entered, making of his coming a very cheerful and gracious affair.
«There you are!» he exclaimed. «You and your beautiful girls and your champagne! Think of it! Aren’t you really ashamed of yourself?» Cowperwood smiled broadly. «And, incidentally», went on Stane, «I have an order to inflict severe punishment on you for at least twenty-four hours. No champagne! Instead, water! No caviar, not a grain, only a thin sliver of beef, plus more water! Perhaps, when you’re about ready to collapse, a bowl of thin gruel and more water!»
Cowperwood sat up. «I call that tops for cruelty», he said. «But perhaps, you can be induced to share my water and gruel. In the meantime, and strictly in confidence, you might tell me what Dr. Middleton told you».
«Well», replied Stane, «what he really said was that you were forgetting that your years are creeping up on you, and that champagne and caviar are entirely outside your present powers of digestion. Also dancing until sunrise. Hence your collapse on my over polished ballroom floor. And hence Dr. Middleton’s approaching visit to find out how you’re getting along, although he says he cannot find that there is anything seriously wrong with you other than overwork, which is something you can easily remedy. And I must tell you that your lovely ward, who was good enough to accept my offer of lodging for the night, will be down shortly. I need not tell you, of course, that she is as greatly concerned as I am, regardless of
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Dr. Middleton’s conclusions” – a statement which caused Cowperwood to assert rather positively:
«But there’s nothing of any consequence the matter with me. I may not be as good as new, but I’m still somewhere near it. And as far as business is concerned, I’ll be on hand to cope with any difficulties there. As a matter of fact, you should be able to judge for yourself, by the results so far, whether our affairs are being managed capably or not».
There was just a tingle of reproach in his tone, which Stane noticed.
«The results have been tremendous», he said. «Anyone who could come over here with such a proposition as yours and secure $25,000,000 from American investors, certainly deserves nothing but compliments from me. And I’m glad to express my gratitude, and that of our investors, for your interest and your services. The only trouble is, Cowperwood, it all rests on your broad American shoulders and your continued health and strength. And that is important».
At this point there was a knock on the door, following which Berenice entered. After greetings and light conversation, Stane urged both to stay as long as they wished, whether it be a week or a month. But Cowperwood, feeling the need of extreme privacy as well as quiet and rest, insisted on their early departure. After Stane had left, he turned to Berenice, and said:
«It isn’t that I feel so badly, dearest. I don’t, but because of the need of avoiding publicity of any kind, I would like us to leave here as soon as possible, and if I had my choice, I would rather go to Pryor’s Cove than to the hotel.
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Won’t you please arrange it with Lord Stane so that we may leave here in the morning?»
«Of course, dear», replied Berenice, «if that’s what you want. I would feel better myself if you were over there near me».
«There’s one other thing, Bevy», went on Cowperwood. «I want you to get Jamieson to cable to Dr. Jefferson James in New York. He’s my old physician and friend. Ask him, if possible, to come to London. Tell Jamieson this is to be confidential and in code. He can reach him at the New York Medical Society».
«Then you do feel that there is something wrong with you?» Her tone indicated her nervousness.
«No! Not as bad as all that by any means, but, as you see for yourself, I’m in a rather uncertain state as to what’s really wrong with me. Besides, as far as my public affairs are concerned, it might strike any person, particularly my stockholders and investors, as very peculiar that a man should suddenly collapse for no apparent reason, although I may have overdone my eating and drinking a little bit last night, particularly as to the champagne. But certainly I never felt like that before. And I surely would like to see Jefferson. He’ll know, and will tell me the truth».
«Frank», interrupted Berenice at this point, «what did Dr. Wayne tell you the last time you saw him that you did not tell me? What did the specialists’ report show?»
«Oh, Dr. Wayne said that the pain I had at that time might be distantly related to Bright’s disease, only he was not sure, because, he said, there are two phases of Bright’s disease, chronic and acute. Mine, he said, was neither one nor the oth-
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er. He said I would have to wait and see if anything of a more serious nature developed before any specialist could give a correct diagnosis».
«Well, if that’s the case, I think Dr. James should come over. I’ll get Jamieson to cable him tomorrow. In the meantime, I certainly think that Pryor’s Cove is the place for you until such time as Dr. James feels you are all right».
Whereupon she crossed to the window, drawing the shade, and asked him to try and rest for a period while she went to make all the arrangements necessary for their departure in the morning. But even as she did this, her mind was wrestling with the import of all this to him, and though she was outwardly gracious, she was trembling inwardly.
«You are quite right, my dear», observed Stane, when she informed him of their decision to go to Pryor’s Cove. «It is likely to have a soothing effect on him, I’m sure, as it has had on me many times in the past. Besides, your mother is there, and she will be of help to you. If you will permit me, I’ll drive you over myself in the morning. Mr. Cowperwood is far too important to me to overlook anything that might contribute to his comfort and speedy recovery».
Chapter 62
The aftermath of all this was, in the course of the next two weeks, the arrival at Pryor’s Cove of Dr. James, who, seeing Cowperwood resting comfortably in a bedroom overlooking the Thames, paused to observe:
«Well, Frank, I see that you’re not so ill that you can’t enjoy the beautiful view through these windows. I’m half-in- clined to suggest that you get up and hurry over to New York and let me stretch out here until I recover from my labors of getting here. I’ve been dying for a vacation for years».
«Didn’t you enjoy your trip over?» asked Cowperwood.
«I never welcomed a change more in my life. It was beautiful. The sea was calm and there was a minstrel troupe aboard that entertained me enormously. They were headed, if you please, for Vienna, and half of them were Negroes».
«Same old Jeff!» commented Cowperwood. «My, what a pleasure it is to see you again! If I have wished once, I have wished a score of times that you were over here and could study some of the oddities of these English!»
«Bad as all that, are they?» said James, amusedly. «But suppose you tell me the story of all this from the beginning. Where were you, and why were you arrested?»
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Whereupon Cowperwood slowly and carefully proceeded to recite the incidents of his life and labor since he had returned from Norway, together with the opinions of Dr. Wayne and the specialists.
«And that’s why I wanted you to come over, Jeff», he concluded. «I knew you would tell me the truth. The specialists said it might be Bright’s disease. In fact, they said I might not live more than a year and a half at the most, although Dr. Wayne did say that the conclusions of specialists are not necessarily always correct».
«Right!» said Dr. James, emphatically.
«Dr. Wayne’s opinion, of course», continued Cowperwood, «may have given me a false sense of security, for it wasn’t so very long after that I did quite some celebrating, at Lord Stane’s place, and that brought on the disturbing incident I have described to you. I found myself suddenly very short of breath and had to be helped from the room. It’s made me rather doubtful of Dr. Wayne’s diagnosis. But now that you are here, I expect to be told the truth and put on the right track».
At this point Dr. James stepped forward and put both hands on Cowperwood’s chest.
«Now show me how deep you can breathe», he said, and after Cowperwood’s best effort in that direction, the doctor said: «Ah, I see, a little dilation of the stomach. I shall have to leave you something for that».
«Does it look as though I have a fatal disease, Jeff?»
«Not so fast, Frank. After all, I have to make some examinations. But I can say this: you have already seen two doctors and three specialists, and you’ve learned that it might cause your
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death or it might not cause your death. As you know, there’s always a wide margin between the possible and the impossible, between the certain and the uncertain, and there’s always a wide margin between sickness and health. But looking at you here now, and taking into consideration your general physical tone, I think you are likely to be around here for some months yet, maybe for several years. You must give me time to work on you, to think out what is best for you. In the meantime, tomorrow morning, fairly early, I’ll be back here to make a complete physical examination».
«Wait a minute!» exclaimed Cowperwood. «My orders are that you’re to stay here with us, with me and my ward, Miss Fleming, and her mother».
«It’s very good of you, Frank, to ask me, but I can’t stay today. It just so happens that there are one or two drugs I’ll have to find in London before I go on with you. But I’ll come back about eleven in the morning, and after that, I’ll stay with you, as you wish, at least long enough to make you a better, if not a wiser, man. But now, no champagne, in fact no liquor of any kind, for a while at least, and no food with the exception of a cream soup, perhaps, and plenty of buttermilk».
Whereupon Berenice entered the room and was introduced by Cowperwood. Dr. James, after greeting her turned to Cowperwood and exclaimed:
«How can you be ill, with such a cure for all ills right here at your bedside! You may be sure I’ll be here bright and early in the morning».
After which, and very professionally, he explained to Berenice that when he returned he would require hot water, tow-
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els, and some charcoal from a brightly blazing fireplace which he saw in an adjoining room.
«To think I should have come all the way from New York to treat him, with the cure right here», he observed to her, smilingly. «This world is too ridiculous for any use».
Berenice, noting how wise and gay he was, liked him at once, and thought of the many strong and interesting people Frank invariably drew to himself.
Accordingly, after an added personal talk with Cowperwood, he left for the city, but not before he had caused Cowperwood to feel that his gigantic financial obligations constituted a form of disease in themselves.
«These varying problems prey on your mind, Frank», he told him, seriously. «The brain is a thinking, creative, and directive organ which can cause you as much trouble as any fatal disease, of which worry is one, and I think you have that disease now. My problem is to make you know that that is true, and that your life is worth more to you than any ten underground systems. If you insist on putting work first, any quack doctor can truthfully assure you that at your age you are likely to die. So now my problem is to get your mind off your underground systems, and get you to take a real rest».
«I will do the best I can», said Cowperwood, «but some of these burdens are not so easy to drop as you may imagine. They concern the interests of hundreds of people who have put their complete faith in me, besides millions of Londoners who have never been able to travel beyond the limits of their own neighborhoods. With my plan, they will be able to ride to
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