You should never ask the ostler
whether he greases his oats. In this case Frank Greystock was not exactly
in the position of the ostler; but he did inform his cousin by letter that
she would lay herself open to all manner of pains and penalties if she
disobeyed such a summons as she had received, unless she did so by a very
strong medical advice, backed by a medical certificate.
Lizzie, when she received this, had two strings to her bow. A writer from
Ayr had told her that the summons sent to her was not worth the paper on
which it was printed in regard to a resident in Scotland; and she had also
got a doctor from the neighbourhood who was satisfied that she was far too
ill to travel up to London. Pulmonary debilitation was the complaint from
which she was suffering, which, with depressed vitality in all the organs,
and undue languor in all the bodily functions, would be enough to bring
her to a speedy end if she so much as thought of making a journey up to
London. A certificate to this effect was got in triplicate. One copy she
sent to the attorneys, one to Frank, and one she kept herself.
The matter was very pressing indeed.
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