family medical man, when first she came to the Towers on her marriage;
but she never thought of interfering with his custom of taking his
meals, if he needed refreshment, in the housekeeper's room, not _with_
the housekeeper, _bien entendu_. The comfortable, clever, stout, and
red-faced doctor would very much have preferred this, even if he had
had the choice given him (which he never had) of taking his 'snack,' as
he called it, with my lord and my lady, in the grand dining-room. Of
course, if some great surgical gun (like Sir Astley) was brought down
from London to bear on the family's health, it was due to him, as well
as to the local medical attendant, to ask Mr. Hall to dinner, in a
formal and ceremonious manner, on which occasions Mr. Hall buried his
chin in voluminous folds of white muslin, put on his black knee-
breeches, with bunches of ribbon at the sides, his silk stockings and
buckled shoes, and otherwise made himself excessively uncomfortable in
his attire, and went forth in state in a post-chaise from the 'George,'
consoling himself in the private corner of his heart for the discomfort
he was enduring with the idea of how well it would sound the next day
in the ears of the squires whom he was in the habit of attending.
'Yesterday at dinner the earl said,' or 'the countess remarked,' or 'I
was surprised to hear when I was dining at the Towers yesterday.' But
somehow things had changed since Mr. Gibson had become 'the doctor'
_par excellence_ at Hollingford. The Miss Brownings thought that it was
because he had such an elegant figure, and 'such a distinguished
manner;' Mrs. Goodenough, 'because of his aristocratic connections'--
'the son of a Scotch duke, my dear, never mind on which side of the
blanket'--but the fact was certain; although he might frequently ask
Mrs. Brown to give him something to eat in the housekeeper's room--he
had no time for all the fuss and ceremony of luncheon with my lady--he
was always welcome to the grandest circle of visitors in the house. He
might lunch with a duke any day that he chose; given that a duke was