"Margie!"

The physician stepped forward, and sought the fluttering pulse. His face
told his decision before his lips did.

"The crisis is passed. He will live."

Yes, he would live. The suspense was over. Alexandrine's labors were
shared now, and Archer did not know how devotedly he had been tended--how
he owed his very existence to her.

He mended slowly, but by the middle of May he was able to go out. Of
course he was very grateful to the Lees, and their house was almost the
only one he visited. Alexandrine was fitful and moody. Sometimes she
received him with the greatest warmth, and then she would be cold and
distant. She puzzled Archer strangely. He wanted to be friends with her.
He felt that he owed her an immense debt of gratitude, and he desired to
treat her as he would a dear sister.

Perhaps it was because time hung so heavily on his hands that Trevlyn
went so frequently to Mrs. Lee's. Certainly he did not go to visit
Alexandrine. We all know how the habit of visiting certain places grows
upon us, without any particular cause, until we feel the necessity of
going through with the regular routine every day. He was to blame for
following up this acquaintance so closely, but he did it without any
wrong intention. He never thought it possible that any one should dream
of his being in love with Alexandrine.

But the world talked. They said it was a very pretty romance; Mr. Trevlyn
had been deserted by his lady-love, had fallen ill on account of it, and