CHAPTER XXV. HOBSON'S CHOICE
There were some days when the absence of patients seemed to Dr. SpencerWhiles a thing almost insupportable. Too late he began to realize thathe had set up in the wrong neighborhood. In years to come, he reflectedgloomily, when the great building estate which was to have beendeveloped more than a year ago was really opened up, there might be anopportunity where he was, a very excellent opportunity, too, for a youngdoctor of ability. Just now, however, the outlook was almost hopeless.He found himself even looking eagerly forward every day for anothervisit from Mr. Inspector Jacks. Another trip to town would mean a peepinto the world of luxury, whose doors were so closely barred againsthim, and, what was more important still, it would mean a fee which wouldkeep the wolf from the door for another week. It had come to that withDr. Whiles. His little stock of savings was exhausted. Unless somethingturned up within the course of the next few weeks, he knew very wellthat there was nothing left for him to do but to slip away quietlyinto the embrace of the more shady parts of the great city, to finda situation somewhere, somehow, beyond the ken of the disappointedcreditors whom he would leave behind.
Mr. Inspector Jacks, however, had apparently no further use, for thepresent at any rate, for his medical friend. On the other hand, Dr.Spencer Whiles was not left wholly to himself. On the fourth day afterhis visit to London a motor car drew up outside his modest surgery door,and with an excitement which he found it almost impossible to conceal,he saw a plainly dressed young man, evidently a foreigner and, hebelieved, a Japanese, descend and ring the patients' bell. The doctorhad dismissed his boy a week ago, from sheer inability to pay his modestwages, and he did not hesitate for a moment about opening the doorhimself. The man outside raised his hat and made him a sweeping bow.
"It is Dr. Spencer Whiles?" he asked.
The doctor admitted the fact and invited his visitor to enter.
"It is here, perhaps," the latter continued, "that a gentleman who wasriding a bicycle and was run into by a motor car, was brought after theaccident and treated so skilfully?"
"That is so," Dr. Whiles admitted. "There was nothing much the matterwith him. He had rather a narrow escape."
"I am that gentleman's servant," the visitor continued with a blandsmile. "He has sent me down here to see you. The leg which was injuredis perfectly well, but there was a pain in the side of which he spoketo you, which has not disappeared. This morning, in fact, it isworse,--much worse. My master, therefore, has sent me to you. He begsthat if it is not inconvenient you will return with me at once andexamine him."
The doctor drew a little breath. This might mean another week or so ofrespite!
"Where does your master live?" he asked the man.
"In the West end of London, sir," was the reply. "The Square of St.James it is called."
Dr. Whiles glanced at his watch.
"It will take me some time to go there with you," he said, "and I shallhave to arrange with a friend to treat any other patients. Do you thinkyour master will understand that I shall need an increased fee?"
"My master desired me to say," the other answered, "that he would beprepared to pay any fee you cared to mention. Money is not of accountwith him. He has not had occasion to seek medical advice in London,and as he is leaving very soon, he did not wish to send for a strangephysician. He remembered with gratitude your care of him, and he sendsfor you."
"That's all right," Dr. Whiles declared, "so long as it's understood.You'll excuse me for a moment while I write a note, and I'll comealong."
Dr. Whiles had no note to write, but he made a few changes in his toiletwhich somewhat improved his appearance. In due course he reappeared andwas rapidly whirled up to London, the sole passenger in the magnificentcar. The man who had brought him the message from his quondam patientwas sitting in front, next the chauffeur, so Dr. Whiles had noopportunity of asking him for any information concerning his master. Nordid the car itself slacken speed until it drew up before the door of thelarge corner house in St. James' Square. A footman in dark livery camerunning out; a butler bowed upon the steps. Dr. Spencer Whiles wasimmensely impressed. The servants were all Japanese, but their liveryand manners were faultless. He made his way into the hall and followedthe butler up the broad stairs.
"My master," the latter explained, "will receive you very shortly. He isbut partly dressed at present."
Dr. Spencer Whiles came of a family of successful tradespeople, and hewas not used to such quiet magnificence as was everywhere displayed.Yet, with it all, there seemed to him to be an air of gloom about theplace, something almost mysterious in the silence of the thick carpets,the subdued voices, and the absence of maidservants. The house itselfwas apparently an old one. He noticed that the doors were very heavy andthick, the corridors roomy, the absence of light almost remarkable. Theapartment into which he was shown, however, came as a pleasant surprise.It was small, but delightfully furnished in the most modern fashion. Itsonly drawback was that it looked out upon a blank wall.
"My master will come to you in a few minutes," the butler announced."What refreshments may I have the honor of serving?"
Dr. Whiles waved aside the invitation,--he would at any rate remainprofessional. The man withdrew, and almost immediately afterwards PrinceMaiyo entered the room. The doctor rose to his feet with a little thrillof excitement. The Prince held out his hand.
"I am very pleased to see you again, doctor," he said. "You lookedafter me so well last time that I was afraid I should have no excuse forsending for you."
"I am glad to find that you are not suffering," the doctor answered. "Iunderstood from your servant that you were feeling a good deal of painin the side."
"It troubles me at times," the Prince admitted, drawing a chair uptowards his visitor,--"just sufficiently, perhaps, to give me the excuseof seeking a little conversation with you. You must let me offer yousomething after your ride."
"You are very good," the doctor answered. "Perhaps I had better examineyou first."
The Prince rang the bell and waved aside the suggestion.
"That," he said, "can wait. In my country, you know, we do not considerthat a guest is properly treated unless he partakes of our hospitalitythe moment he crosses the threshold. The whiskey and soda water," heordered of the butler who appeared at the door. "We will talk of myailments," the Prince continued, "in a moment or two. Tell me whatyou thought of that marvellous restaurant where I saw you the othermorning?"
The doctor drew a little breath.
"It was you, then!" he exclaimed.
"But naturally," the Prince murmured. "I took it for granted that youwould recognize me."
The doctor found some difficulty in proceeding. He was trying toimagine the cousin of an Emperor riding a bicycle along a countryroad, staggering into his surgery at midnight, covered with dust,inarticulate, pointing only to the wounds beneath his cheap clothes!
"Nothing," the Prince continued easily, "has impressed me more in yourcountry than the splendor of your restaurants. You see, that side ofyour life represents something we are altogether ignorant of in Japan."
"It is a very wonderful place," the doctor admitted. "We had luncheon,my friend and I, in the grillroom, but we came for a few minutes intothe foyer to watch the people from the restaurant."
The Prince nodded genially.
"By the bye," he remarked, "it is strange that my very good friend--Mr.Inspector Jacks--should also be a friend of yours."
"He is scarcely that," the doctor objected. "I have known him for a veryshort time."
The Prince raised his eyebrows. The whiskey and soda were brought, andthe doctor helped himself. How curiously deficient these Westernerswere, the Prince thought, in every instinct of duplicity! As clearlyas possible the doctor had revealed the fact that his acquaintancewith Inspector Jacks was of precisely that nature which might have beenexpected.
The Prince sighed. There was but one course open to him.
"Now, Dr. Whiles," he said, "I will tell you something.
You must listento me very carefully, please. I sent for you not so much on account ofany immediate pain but because my general health has been giving me alittle trouble lately. I have come to the conclusion that I require theservices of a medical attendant always at hand."
The doctor looked at his prospective patient skeptically.
"You have not the appearance," he remarked, "of being in ill health."
"Perhaps not," the Prince answered. "Perhaps even, there is not for themoment very much the matter with me. One has humors, you know, my deardoctor. I have a somewhat large suite here with me in England, but I donot number amongst them a physician. I wanted to ask you to accept thatposition in my household for two months."
"Do you mean come and live here?" the doctor asked.
"That is exactly what I do mean," the Prince answered. "I am thankful toobserve that your apprehensions are so acute. I warn you that I am goingto make some very curious conditions. I do not know whether money is anobject to you. If not, I am powerless. If it is, I propose to make itworth your while."
The doctor did not hesitate.
"Money," he said, "is the greatest object in life to me. I have none,and I want some very badly."
The Prince smiled.
"I find your candor delightful," he declared. "Now tell me, Dr. Whiles,how many patients have you in your neighborhood absolutely dependentupon your services?"
The doctor hesitated, opened his mouth and closed it again.
"Not one!" he declared.
Once more the Prince's lips parted. His smile this time was definite,transfiguring.
"I find you, Dr. Whiles," he announced, "a most charmingly reasonableperson. I make you my offer, then, with every confidence, although Iwarn you that there will be some strange conditions attached to it. Iask you to accept the post of private physician to this household forthe space of one--it may be two months, and I offer you also, as anhonorarium, the fee of one thousand guineas."
The doctor sat quite still for a moment. He was in a condition whenspeech was difficult. Then his eyes fell upon his tumbler of whiskey andsoda still half filled. He emptied it at a draught.
"A thousand guineas!" he repeated hoarsely.
"I trust that you will find the sum attractive," the Prince saidsmoothly, "because, as I have warned you before, there are one or twocurious conditions coupled with the post."
"I don't care what the conditions are," the doctor said slowly. "Iaccept!"
The Prince nodded.
"You are the man I thought you were, doctor," he said. "The firstcondition, then, is this. You see the sitting room we are now in--apleasant little apartment, I think,--books, you see, papers, a smokingcabinet in which I can assure you that you will find the finest Havanacigars and the best cigarettes to be procured in London. Throughhere"--the Prince threw open an inner door--"is a small sleepingapartment. It has, as you see, the same outlook. It is comfortable ifnot luxurious."
The doctor sighed.
"I am not used to luxury," he said.
"These two rooms will be yours," the Prince announced, "and the firstcondition of our arrangement is that until two months are up, or ourengagement is finished, you do not leave them."
The doctor stared at him blankly.
"Are you in earnest, sir?" he asked.
"In absolute earnest," the Prince assured him. "Not only that, but Irequire you to keep your whereabouts, until after the period of time Ihave mentioned, an entire secret from every one. I gather that you arenot married, and that there is no one living in your house to whom itwould seem necessary to disclose your movements. In any case, thisis another of my conditions. You are neither to write nor receive anyletters whilst here. You are to figure in the neighborhood from whichyou came as a man who has disappeared,--as a man, in short, who hasfound it impossible to pay his way and has preferred simply to slip outof his place. At the end of two months you can reappear or not, as youchoose. That rests with yourself."
The doctor smiled faintly. To make some sort of disappearance had beenhis precise intention, but to disappear in this fashion and make hisreturn to the world with a thousand guineas in his pocket, had notexactly come within the scope of his imagination. It was a situationfull of allurements. Nevertheless he was bewildered.
"I am to live in these two rooms?" he demanded. "I am to let no one knowwhere I am, to write no letters, to receive none? My duties are to besimply to treat you?"
"When required," the Prince remarked dryly.
"I suppose," the doctor asked, "my friend Mr. Jacks was speaking thetruth when he told me your name?"
"My name is Prince Maiyo," the Prince said.
Mechanically the doctor helped himself to another whiskey and soda.
"You are to be my only patient," he said thoughtfully. "May I take theliberty of feeling your pulse, Prince?"
The Prince extended his hand. The doctor felt it and resumed his seat.
"There is, of course, nothing whatever the matter with you," hedeclared. "You are, I should say, in absolutely perfect health. You haveno need of a physician."
"On the contrary," the Prince protested, smiling, "I need you, Dr.Whiles, so much that I am paying you a thousand guineas--"
"To remain in these two rooms," the doctor remarked quietly.
"It is not your business to think that or to know that," the Princesaid. "Do you accept my offer?"
"If I should refuse?" the doctor asked.
The Prince hesitated.
"Do not let us suppose that," he said. "It is not a pleasant suggestion.I do not think that you mean to refuse."
"Frankly, I do not," the doctor answered. "And yet treat it as a whim ofmine and answer my question. Supposing I should?"
"The matter would arrange itself in precisely the same way," the Princeanswered. "You would not leave these rooms for two months."
The doctor leaned back in his chair and laughed shortly.
"This is rather hard luck on Inspector Jacks," he said. "He paid me tenguineas the other day to lunch with him."
"Mr. Inspector Jacks," the Prince remarked, "is scarcely in a positionto bid you an adequate sum for your services."
"It appears to me," the doctor continued, "that I am kidnapped."
"An admirable word," the Prince declared. "At what time do you usuallylunch?"
The doctor smiled.
"I am not used to motoring," he said, "or interviews of this excitingcharacter. I lunch, as a rule, when I can get anything to eat. Thepresent seems to me to be a most suitable hour."
The Prince nodded, and rose to his feet.
"I will send my servant," he said, "to take your orders. My cook is veryhighly esteemed here, and I can assure you that you will not be starved.Please also make out a list of the newspapers, magazines, and books withwhich you would like to be supplied. I fear that, for obvious reasons,my people would hardly be able to anticipate your wants."
"And about that examination?" the doctor remarked.
"I shall do myself the pleasure of seeing you every day," the Princeanswered. "There will be time enough for that."
With an amiable word of farewell the Prince departed. The doctor threwhimself into an easy chair. His single exclamation was laconic butforcible.