He sent a neighbour for a doctor.

As he watched the worn, patient face, his heart full to bursting, the thought flashed through him--what could have happened to cause this collapse?
He became conscious of the cable he had found tightly clasped in her hand.

He picked it up and read it.

It was very brief: You have made your bed, lie in it.
Nathaniel Kingsnorth.
was all it said..