"Refused you, did you say?" and Guy's face certainly looked brighter

than it had before since he left the doctor with Maddy Clyde.

"Yes, refused me, as I might have known she would," was the doctor's

reply, spoken so naturally that Guy looked up quickly to see if he

really did not care.

But the expression of the face belied the calmness of the voice; and,

touched with genuine pity, Guy asked the cause of the refusal--

"preference for any one else, or what?"

"No, there was no one whom she preferred. She merely did not like me

well enough to be my wife, that was all," the doctor said, and then he

Advertisement..

tried to talk of something else; but it would not do. The wound was

yet too fresh and sore to be covered up, and in spite of himself the

bearded chin quivered and the manly voice shook as he bade good-by to

Guy, and then went galloping down the avenue.

Great was the consternation among the doctor's patients when it was

known that their pet physician--the one in whose skill they had so

much confidence--was going to Europe, where in Paris he could perfect

himself in his profession. Some cried, and among them Agnes; some said

he knew enough already; some tried to dissuade him from his purpose;

some wondered at the sudden start, while only two knew exactly why he

was going--Guy and Maddy; the former approving his decision and

lending his influence to make his tour abroad as pleasant as possible;

and the latter weeping bitterly as she thought how she had sent him

away, and that if aught befell him on the sea or in that distant land,

she would be held amenable. Once there came over her the wild impulse

to bid him stay, to say that she would be his wife; but, ere the rash

act was done, Guy came down to the cottage, and Maddy's resolution

gave way at once.

It would be difficult to tell the exact nature of Maddy's liking for

Guy at that time. Had he offered himself to her she would probably

have refused him even more promptly than she did the doctor; for, to

all intents and purposes, he was, in her estimation, the husband of

Lucy Atherstone. As such, there was no harm in making him her paragon

of all male excellence; and Guy would have felt flattered, could he

have known how much he was in that young girl's thoughts. But now for

a few days he had a rival, for Maddy's thoughts were all given to the

doctor, who came down to see her once before starting for Europe. She

did not cry while he was there, but her voice was strange and hoarse

as she gave him messages for Lucy Atherstone; and all that day her

face was white and sad, as are the faces of those who come back from

burying their dead.