The Doctor's Family - Chapter 16
'The Doctor’s Family' (1861) by Scottish author Margaret Oliphant is a beautifully observed Victorian novella, set in the fictional English town of Carlingford, a little out from London. Chapter 16 centres on Nettie’s decisive resolve to make everything irrevocable. She begins hurriedly packing for Australia, driven by pride, exhaustion and a fierce need to act rather than think. Dr Rider arrives and confronts her amid the chaos, leading to a raw and painful clash between her determination to stand alone and his refusal to let her disappear without a fight. The tension is abruptly transformed when Susan reveals a long-hidden plan of her own, overturning Nettie’s sense of duty and sacrifice in an instant. Stripped of the role she has carried for years, Nettie withdraws in wounded dignity, while the doctor leaves the cottage with his hopes suddenly, astonishingly revived...!
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