On sending news of the accident to his house, I found that my chance-patient was a nobleman.
"My lord was so well satisfied with my services that he refused to be attended by any of my elders and betters in the profession.

Little did I think at the time, that I had received the last of the favours which Fortune was to bestow on me.

I enjoyed the confidence and goodwill of a man possessing boundless social influence; and I was received most kindly by the ladies of his family.

In one word, at the time when my professional prospects justified the brightest hopes that I could form, sudden death deprived me of the dearest and truest of all friends--I suffered the one dreadful loss which it is impossible to replace, the loss of my mother.

We had parted at night when she was, to all appearance, in the enjoyment of her customary health.