So much the doctor
read in a glance before his patient began to detail her symptoms. She
detailed them with a certain obvious shame and a slow conquering of
reticence that made her speak very deliberately.
She began by saying, in no insulting manner, that she had kept clear of
doctors during almost the whole of her life; that she had meant to keep
clear of them till her death.
"For I was born with a constitution of iron," she said, "and I have
always lived on the most sanitary principles, and with the utmost
simplicity. So I hoped to go to my grave without much suffering.
Certainly I never expected to have to consult any one on the ground
of nervous breakdown. Yet that is exactly why I am here with you at
this moment. The circumstances of my life have been too much for me,
I suppose."
There was a grave pathos in her voice as she uttered the last words.
"At any rate," she continued, after a pause, "I would like you to help
me if you can. The cause of my breakdown is remote enough, several years
old. I had a tremendous burden to bear then, and I bore it, as I thought
bravely, for a long time. At last it grew intolerable, and then I
succeeded at last in getting it removed, in getting rid of it, you
understand, altogether.
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