AustLit

English tale of a father's feigned death to collect insurance money and the terrible toll on his wife and daughter's health. A London doctor is consulted by a mother concerned about her daughter's health and learns of her conviction that her father is still alive. Includes his consultation with the family doctor; the exhumation of a coffin; the mother's illness and delirious confessionl reunion of husband and wife on their deathbeds (her "suicide" from an overdose of Indian hemp); his confession of the counterfeit to collect the insurance money and avoid dishonour; and the daughter's love and loss of both parents. Interesting theme: sense of daughter's love for both parents and their passion for each other is well-conveyed; also the sense of the doctor's compassion. (PB)