dently pleased to
have a handsome and certainly eligible suitor. But no--it was
impossible that she had really meant what she said. When Captain King
came back, then the true state of affairs would be seen. Madge was not
going to marry for money or position--or even out of spite.

And when Frank King did come back, matters looked very well at first.
Madge received him in a very nice, friendly fashion, and was pleased by
certain messages from the old folks at Kingscourt. Nan's fears began
to fade away. Nothing more was heard of Jack Hanbury. So far as Madge
was concerned everything seemed right.

But Nan, who was very anxious, and on that account unusually sensitive,
seemed to detect something strange in Frank King's manner. He had
nothing of the gay audacity of an accepted suitor. When he paid Madge
any little attention, it appeared almost an effort. He was preoccupied
and thoughtful; sometimes, after regarding Madge in silence, he would
apparently wake up to the consciousness that he ought to be more
attentive to her; but there did not seem to be much joyousness in their
relationship. When these two happened to be together--during the
morning stroll down the pier, or on the way home from church, or seated
at a concert--they did not seem to have many things to speak about
Frank King grew more and more grave; and Nan saw it, and wondered, and
quite failed to guess at the reason.

The fact was that he had now discovered what terrible mistake he had
made. He could blind himself no longer. Madge was not Nan; nor
anything approaching to Nan; they were as different as day and night.
Face to face with this discovery, he asked himself what he ought to do.
Clearly, if he had made a mistake, it was his first duty that no one
else should suffer by it. Because he was disappointed in not finding
in Madge certain qualities and characteristics he had expected to find,
he was not going to withdraw from an engagement he had voluntarily
entered into. It was not Madge's fault. If the prospect of this
marriage pleased her, he was bound to fulfil his promise. After all,
Madge had her own qualities. Might they not wear as well through the
rough work of the world, even if they had not for him the fascination
he had hoped for? In any case, the disappointment should be his, not
hers. She should not suffer any slight. And then he would make
another desperate resolve to be very affectionate and attentive to her;
resolves wh