table in the fall. Ringing the
bell, Mrs. Markham flew to her assistance, and, unfastening the collar of
her dress, something was disclosed to view which gave that lady a second
sensational shock, more thrilling than the first. Hurriedly she closed
the dress again, despatching for water a sympathetic servant who had just
entered, then swiftly, dexterously, possessed herself of a ribbon
encircling the girl's throat, on which hung a wedding-ring.

Bluebell recovered only to fall from one fainting fit into another. Her
strength had been exhausted by the walk, and she had none to bear up
against the shock that awaited her. The letter was from Miss Opie,
announcing Mrs. Leigh's sudden death, after a few hours' illness. Inside,
and unopened, was returned Bluebell's private enclosure revealing her
married name.

A year ago this child had been innocent of the existence of nerves, but,
from the trying scenes she had lately gone through, they were now so
shattered that she was unable to rally. The doctor kept her in bed at
first, recommended absolute quiet, and exhausted his formula with as
beneficial a result as could be expected considering it attacked the
secondary cause only, and was impotent to heal the suffering mind
reacting upon the body. Bluebell continued in a torpid condition,
scarcely giving any signs of life. One day, Mrs. Markham, who nursed her
with unremitting zeal, quickened, perhaps, by the interest of her
discovery, observed the patient's hand steal to her neck, and then she
glanced uneasily about, as if seeking for something.

They were alone, so Mrs. Markham whispered in a low, cautious tone, "I
have it quite safe, locked up in my desk. No one knows of it but myself."
An apprehensive look dilated the large, sad eyes, succeeded by an
expression of contented resignation. She did not perceptibly improve, her
mind was incessantly trying to realize what had happened, and was haunted
by a morbid conviction that the anxiety induced by her own strange
marriage might have precipitated the sad event, for Miss Opie's letter
did not soften the fact that Mrs. Leigh had fretted greatly about it.
Still she expressly said that she had succumbed to an epidemic that had
already gleaned many victims.

It was, after all, many days before Mrs. Markham remembered the seeds she
had been so anxious to obtain, but one favourable afternoon, she set
diligently to work to lay the foundation for summer flowers. Though the
"even teno