Page 692 - of-human-bondage-

One morning the house-physician gave him a new case, a
man; and, seating himself at the bedside, Philip proceed-
ed to write down particulars on the ‘letter.’ He noticed on
looking at this that the patient was described as a journalist:
his name was Thorpe Athelny, an unusual one for a hospital
patient, and his age was forty-eight. He was suffering from a
sharp attack of jaundice, and had been taken into the ward
on account of obscure symptoms which it seemed necessary
to watch. He answered the various questions which it was
Philip’s duty to ask him in a pleasant, educated voice. Since
he was lying in bed it was difficult to tell if he was short or
tall, but his small head and small hands suggested that he
was a man of less than average height. Philip had the habit
of looking at people’s hands, and Athelny’s astonished him:
they were very small, with long, tapering fingers and beau-
tiful, rosy finger-nails; they were very smooth and except
for the jaundice would have been of a surprising whiteness.
The patient kept them outside the bed-clothes, one of them
slightly spread out, the second and third fingers together,
and, while he spoke to Philip, seemed to contemplate them
with satisfaction. With a twinkle in his eyes Philip glanced
at the man’s face. Notwithstanding the yellowness it was
distinguished; he had blue eyes, a nose of an imposing bold-
ness, hooked, aggressive but not clumsy, and a small beard,
pointed and gray: he was rather bald, but his hair had evi-
dently been quite fine, curling prettily, and he still wore it
long.
‘I see you’re a journalist,’ said Philip. ‘What papers d’you
write for?’

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