Short Fiction · Chapter
In Mezzotint explained
A successful young doctor returns home late after losing a patient to cerebrospinal meningitis.
What happens
A successful young doctor returns home late after losing a patient to cerebrospinal meningitis. He recounts to his wife how the patient died of a broken heart after being discarded by a woman. Later, the doctor discovers his wife has died by suicide, having matched the torn concert ticket the patient gave him with its other half, revealing she was the woman who had rejected him.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
The doctor's happy marriage and his wife's loving demeanor conceal a hidden past and a tragic secret.
Love and Romance
The story explores love as a destructive force, with the patient dying of a broken heart and the wife's guilt leading to her suicide.
Crime and Consequence
The wife's past rejection of the patient leads to his death and her own suicide, implying moral consequences.
Characters to notice
- The Doctor
The protagonist, a young, handsome, successful doctor who loses a patient and later finds his wife dead.
- Doris
The doctor's wife, who is affectionate and jealous of his patients; she dies by suicide after revealing her connection to the deceased patient.
Key passages
“I lost my case of cerebrospinal meningitis tonight”
The patient I was treating for cerebrospinal meningitis died tonight.
The doctor announces the death of his patient.
“He lied like an angel about his own name, and he gave his watch to the nurse and spoke to her as he would to a queen.”
He was noble and generous despite his illness, refusing to reveal his true identity.
The patient's dignified behavior in the hospital.
“The other half had been neatly fitted to it, and it now read: Admit Two”
The two halves of the concert ticket matched perfectly, revealing the wife's connection to the deceased patient.
The doctor discovers the tragic truth linking his wife to the patient.