'No person can live in
it,' he went on, 'and keep his, her, or its health. Whether it is the
river, or the drains, or the late owner, or the devil, I have not an
idea. I can only tell you no one has been able to remain in it since
Mr. Elmsdale's death, and if I attend a case there, of course I say,
Get out of this at once. Then comes Miss Blake and threatens me with
assault and battery--swears she will bring an action against me for
libelling the place; declares I wish to drive her and her niece to the
workhouse, and asserts I am in league with some one who wants to keep
the house vacant, and I am sick of it. Get what doctor you choose, but
don't send for me.'"
"Well, sir?" I suggested.
"Well! I don't consider it well at all. Here am I, a man returning to
his native country--and a beastly country it is!--after nearly thirty
years' absence, and the first transaction upon which I engage proves a
swindle. Yes, a swindle, Mr. Patterson. I went to you in all good faith,
took that house at your own rent, thought I had got a desirable home,
and believed I was dealing with respectable people, and now I find I was
utterly deceived, both as regards the place and your probity. You knew
the house was uninhabitable, and yet you let it to me.
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