"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
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.