Then his mother must have been a Frenchwoman, because his hair was so
black; and he was so sallow; and because he had been in Paris. All this
might be true, or might not; nobody ever knew, or found out anything
more about him than what Mr. Hall told them, namely, that his
professional qualifications were as high as his moral character, and
that both were far above the average, as Mr. Hall had taken pains to
ascertain before introducing him to his patients. The popularity of
this world is as transient as its glory, as Mr. Hall found out before
the first year of his partnership was over. He had plenty of leisure
left to him now to nurse his gout and cherish his eyesight. The younger
doctor had carried the day; nearly every one sent for Mr Gibson now;
even at the great houses--even at the Towers, that greatest of all,
where Mr. Hall had introduced his new partner with fear and trembling,
with untold anxiety as to his behaviour, and the impression he might
make on my lord the Earl, and MY lady the Countess. Mr. Gibson was
received at the end of a twelvemonth with as much welcome respect for
his professional skill as Mr. Hall himself had ever been. Nay--and this
was a little too much for even the kind old doctor's good temper--Mr.
Gibson had even been invited once to dinner at the Towers, to dine with
the great Sir Astley, the head of the profession! To be sure, Mr. Hall
had been asked as well; but he was laid up just then with his gout,
since he had had a partner the rheumatism had been allowed to develop
itself, and he had not been able to go. Poor Mr. Hall never quite got
over this mortification; after it he allowed himself to become dim of
sight and hard of hearing, and kept pretty closely to the house during
the two winters that remained of his life. He sent for an orphan grand-
niece to keep him company in his old age; he, the woman-contemning old
bachelor, became thankful for the cheerful presence of the pretty,
bonny Mary Preston, who was good and sensible, and nothing more. She