{"product_id":"2940013691698","title":"The Novel of the White Powder","description":"My name is Leicester; my father, Major-General Wyn Leicester, a\u003cbr\u003edistinguished officer of artillery, succumbed five years ago to a\u003cbr\u003ecomplicated liver complaint acquired in the deadly climate of India. A\u003cbr\u003eyear later my only brother, Francis, came home after an exceptionally\u003cbr\u003ebrilliant career at the University, and settled down with the resolution\u003cbr\u003eof a hermit to master what has been well called the great legend of the\u003cbr\u003elaw. He was a man who seemed to live in utter indifference to everything\u003cbr\u003ethat is called pleasure; and though he was handsomer than most men, and\u003cbr\u003ecould talk as merrily and wittily as if he were a mere vagabond, he\u003cbr\u003eavoided society, and shut himself up in a large room at the top of the\u003cbr\u003ehouse to make himself a lawyer. Ten hours a day of hard reading was at\u003cbr\u003efirst his allotted portion; from the first light in the east to the late\u003cbr\u003eafternoon he remained shut up with his books, taking a hasty half-hour's\u003cbr\u003elunch with me as if he grudged the wasting of the moments, and going out\u003cbr\u003efor a short walk when it began to grow dusk. I thought that such\u003cbr\u003erelentless application must be injurious, and tried to cajole him from\u003cbr\u003ethe crabbed textbooks, but his ardour seemed to grow rather than\u003cbr\u003ediminish, and his daily tale of hours increased. I spoke to him\u003cbr\u003eseriously, suggesting some occasional relaxation, if it were but an idle\u003cbr\u003eafternoon with a harmless novel; but he laughed, and said that he read\u003cbr\u003eabout feudal tenures when he felt in need of amusement, and scoffed at\u003cbr\u003ethe notions of theatres, or a month's fresh air. I confessed that he\u003cbr\u003elooked well, and seemed not to suffer from his labours, but I knew that\u003cbr\u003esuch unnatural toil would take revenge at last, and I was not mistaken.\u003cbr\u003eA look of anxiety began to lurk about his eyes, and he seemed languid,\u003cbr\u003eand at last he avowed that he was no longer in perfect health; he was\u003cbr\u003etroubled, he said, with a sensation of dizziness, and awoke now and then\u003cbr\u003eof nights from fearful dreams, terrified and cold with icy sweats. \"I am\u003cbr\u003etaking care of myself,\" he said, \"so you must not trouble; I passed the\u003cbr\u003ewhole of yesterday afternoon in idleness, leaning back in that\u003cbr\u003ecomfortable chair you gave me, and scribbling nonsense on a sheet of\u003cbr\u003epaper. No, no; I will not overdo my work; I shall be well enough in a\u003cbr\u003eweek or two, depend upon it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet in spite of his assurances I could see that he grew no better, but\u003cbr\u003erather worse; he would enter the drawing-room with a face all miserably\u003cbr\u003ewrinkled and despondent, and endeavour to look gaily when my eyes fell\u003cbr\u003eon him, and I thought such symptoms of evil omen, and was frightened\u003cbr\u003esometimes at the nervous irritation of his movements, and at glances\u003cbr\u003ewhich I could not decipher. Much against his will, I prevailed on him to\u003cbr\u003ehave medical advice, and with an ill grace he called in our old doctor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDr. Haberden cheered me after examination of his patient.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There is nothing really much amiss,\" he said to me. \"No doubt he reads\u003cbr\u003etoo hard and eats hastily, and then goes back again to his books in too\u003cbr\u003egreat a hurry, and the natural sequence is some digestive trouble and a\u003cbr\u003elittle mischief in the nervous system. But I think--I do indeed,\u003cbr\u003eMiss Leicester--that we shall be able to set this all right. I have\u003cbr\u003ewritten him a prescription which ought to do great things. So you have\u003cbr\u003eno cause for anxiety.\"","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083153588464,"sku":"2940013691698","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013691698_p0.jpg?v=1763584604","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013691698","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}