An Instance of the Fingerpost Read Online Free PDF Page B

let me be ugly,’ he said, ‘for I will not be seen in public wearing this. If it produces convulsions in Crosse here, think what the students of this town will do to me. I’ll be lucky to escape with my life.’
    ‘They are the very height of fashion elsewhere,’ I commented. ‘Even the Dutch wear them. I think it is a question of timing. In a few months, or maybe a year, you may find that they hoot and throw stones at you if you do not wear one.’
    ‘Bah! Ridiculous,’ he said, but none the less scooped the wig up off the floor and placed it more safely on the counter.
    ‘I’m sure this gentleman has not come here to discuss fashion,’ Crosse said. ‘Perhaps he even wishes to buy something? It has been known.’
    I bowed. ‘No. I have come to pay for something. I believe you extended credit to a young girl not so long ago.’
    ‘Oh, the Blundy girl. You are the man she mentioned?’
    I nodded. ‘It seems that she spent my money a little freely. I have come to settle her – or rather my – debt.’
    Crosse grunted. ‘You won’t be paid, you know, not in money.’
    ‘So it appears. But it is too late for that now. Besides, I set her mother’s leg, and it was interesting to see whether I could do so; I’d learnt a great deal about it in Leiden, but never tried it on a living patient.’
    ‘Leiden?’ said the young man with sudden interest. ‘Do you know Sylvius?’
    ‘Indeed,’ I said. ‘I studied anatomy with him; and I have a letterfrom him with me for a gentleman called Mr Boyle.’
    ‘Why didn’t you say so?’ he asked, and walked to the door at the back of the shop and opened it. I could see a flight of stairs in the corridor beyond.
    ‘Boyle?’ he yelled. ‘Are you up there?’
    ‘No need to shout, you know,’ Crosse said. ‘I can tell you. He isn’t. He went to the coffee house.’
    ‘Oh. No matter. We can go and find him. What’s your name, by the way?’
    I introduced myself. He bowed in return, and said: ‘Richard Lower, at your service. A physician. Almost.’
    We bowed once more and, that done with, he clapped me on the shoulders. ‘Come along. Boyle will like to meet you. We’ve been feeling a little cut off up here recently.’
    As we walked the short distance back to Tillyard’s, he explained that the ferment of intellectual life in the town had ceased to bubble as it had in the past, due to the return of the king.
    ‘But I heard His Majesty is a lover of learning,’ I said.
    ‘So he is, when he can tear his attention away from his mistresses. That’s the trouble. Under Cromwell, we eked out our existence here, while all the lucrative places in the state went to butchers and fish sellers. Now the king is back and naturally, all those well placed enough to take advantage of his generosity have gone to London, leaving a rump of us up here. I’m afraid I shall have to try to make a name for myself there as well, sooner or later.’
    ‘Hence the wig?’
    He grimaced. ‘Yes, I suppose so. One must cut a dash in London to be noticed at all. Wren was back here a few weeks ago – he’s a friend of mine, a fine fellow – decked out like a peacock. He’s planning a trip to France soon and we’ll probably have to shade our eyes just to look at him when he gets back.’
    ‘And Mr Boyle?’ I asked, my heart sinking a little. ‘He has – ah, decided – to stay in Oxford?’
    ‘Yes, for the time being. But he’s lucky. He’s got so much money he doesn’t have to fish for positions like the rest of us.’
    ‘Oh,’ I said, greatly relieved.
    Lower gave me a look which indicated that he understood perfectlywhat had been going through my mind. ‘His father was one of the richest men in the kingdom and a fervent supporter of the Old King, bless his memory, as I suppose we should. Naturally, a lot of it was dispersed, but there’s enough left for Boyle not to have the concerns of ordinary mortals.’
    ‘Ah.’
    ‘A fine person to know, if you are inclined to