omfort" it
must be to "poor Mr. Harold" to have his wife with him once more.

"Nothing of the sort!" had been Katrina's brief response.

"Such a comfort to _her_, then, poor dear, to be _able_ to devote
herself to him in this time of trial."

"_Margaret_ devote herself!"

"Well, at least, dear Kate, it must be a great comfort to _you_ to have
them together again, as they ought to be, of course," pursued Betty,
hopefully. "It may be--who knows?--probably it _will_ be without doubt,
the beginning of a _true_ reconciliation, a _true_ home."

"True fiddle-sticks! It shouldn't be, then, in my opinion, even if it
could be; Margaret Cruger has been _much_ too leniently dealt with.
After deserting her husband as she has done entirely all these years,
she shouldn't have been taken back so easily, she should have been made
to go down on her _knees_ before he forgave her."

"Dear me! do you really think so?" said Betty, dismayed by this picture.
"And Mrs. Harold has so much sweet dignity, too."

"It should be stripped from her then, it's all hum; what right has
Margaret _Cruger_ to such an amount of dignity? Is she Alexandra,
Princess of Wales, may I ask?"

"Do you know, I have _always_ thought she looked quite a _deal_ like
her," exclaimed Betty, delighted with this coincidence.

But Katrina's comparison had been an impersonal one, she was not
thinking of the fair graceful Princess of the Danes. "My patience!
Elizabeth Gwinnet, how dull you are sometimes!" she exclaimed, closing
her eyes with a groan.

Elizabeth Gwinnet agreed that she was dull, agreed with an unresentful
laugh. Katrina's epithets were a part of the vagaries of her illness, of
course; if she, Betty, was sure of anything in this world, she was sure
that she was an enormous comfort to her poor dear Kate. And under those
circumstances one could agree to anything.

While helpless and in pain, Lansing Harold had been entirely absorbed in
his own condition; even Margaret's arrival he had noticed but slightly.
This strong, dark man took his illness as an extraordinary dispensation,
a tragic miracle; he was surprised that Dr. Kirby was not more agitated,
he was surprised that his two attendants, when they came, did not evince
a deeper concern. Surely it was a case unprecedented, terrible; surely
no one had ever had such an ordeal before. Not once did he emerge from
his own personality and look upon his condition as part of the common
lot; Lanse, indeed, had