The Black Doctor by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Bishop's Crossing is a small village lying ten miles in a / south-westerly direction from Liverpool. Here in the early seventies / there settled a doctor named Aloysius Lana. Nothing was known locally / either of his antecedents or of the reasons which had prompted him to / come to this Lancashire hamlet. Two facts only were certain about him; / the one that he had gained his medical qualification with some / distinction at Glasgow; the other that he came undoubtedly of a / tropical race, and was so dark that he might almost have had a strain / of the Indian in his composition. His predominant features were, / however, European, and he possessed a stately courtesy and carriage / which suggested a Spanish extraction. A swarthy skin, raven-black / hair, and dark, sparkling eyes under a pair of heavily-tufted brows / made a strange contrast to the flaxen or chestnut rustics of England, / and the newcomer was soon known as "The Black Doctor of Bishop's / Crossing. " At first it was a term of ridicule and reproach; as the / years went on it became a title of honour which was familiar to the / whole countryside, and extended far beyond the narrow confines of the / village.

For the newcomer proved himself to be a capable surgeon and an / accomplished physician. The practice of that district had been in the / hands of Edward Rowe, the son of Sir William Rowe, the Liverpool / consultant, but he had not inherited the talents of his father, and Dr. / Lana, with his advantages of presence and of manner, soon beat him out / of the field. Dr. Lana's social success was as rapid as his / professional. A remarkable surgical cure in the case of the Hon. James / Lowry, the second son of Lord Belton, was the means of introducing him / to county society, where he became a favourite through the charm of his / conversation and the elegance of his manners. An absence of / antecedents and of relatives is sometimes an aid rather than an / impediment to social advancement, and the distinguished individuality / of the handsome doctor was its own recommendation.