His Hearts Queen | Page 8

have reason to be," Doctor Norton retorted; then,
bowing coldly to her, he went into the small bedroom leading from the
sitting-room, to see how his hero fared.
"How is she now, doctor?" Wallace eagerly asked, the moment he
crossed the threshold.
It was always his first thought and inquiry whenever the physician
made his appearance, and he would never allow him to pay the slightest
attention to himself until he had first made an examination of Violet's
condition.
"Pretty sick, my boy; but I hope she is going to pull through," he
cheerfully replied.
"Thank heaven!" murmured the young man, fervently.
Doctor Norton observed him keenly for a moment, with a kindly yet
somewhat anxious gleam in his eyes; then he said:

"Look here, my fine fellow, let me give you a little timely warning;
don't you go to falling in love with this pretty Violet--you'll only make
mischief for both yourself and her if you do, for her friends are rich,
and proud as Lucifer--as hard-hearted, too, if I am not mistaken--and
nothing but a fortune will ever tempt them to yield her to the best lover
in the world."
The young man flushed a vivid crimson at this blunt speech, and the
physician, noticing it, continued:
"No doubt you think I'm meddling with what is none of my business,
but I've seen enough to-day to convince me that such a romantic result
of this accident would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to
you. But how do you find yourself to-day?" he concluded, abruptly
changing the subject.
"I have some pain in this right leg, but not enough to fret over,"
Wallace replied, turning his now pale face away from the doctor's keen
eyes.
There had suddenly come a sharper pain in his heart than any physical
suffering that he had as yet endured, as, all at once, he became
conscious that he had already been guilty of doing exactly what the
good surgeon had warned him against.
Already he had begun to love Violet Huntington with all the strength
and passion of his manly, honest heart. He had been instantly attracted
by her lovely face and lady-like appearance, when he entered the car
that bright spring afternoon. When his glance met hers a magnetic
current had seemed to be established between them. When she had
realized the horror of their situation, after the grip upon the cable had
been lost, and thrown out her hands so appealingly to him, his heart had
been suddenly thrilled with the desire to save her, even at the expense
of his own life; in that one brief instant he had given himself to her, for
life or death. When he had clasped her hands about his neck and lifted
her upon his breast--when he had felt her head droop upon his shoulder,
and the beating of her frightened heart against his own, a feeling almost
of ecstasy had taken possession of him, and the strange thought had

come to him that he was perhaps going into eternity with the woman
who should have been his wife--with the one kindred soul designed for
him by his Maker.
But now the doctor's words had given him a rude shock, and he
resolved, rather than allow a suspicion of his affection to make trouble
for the sweet girl who had become the one coveted object of his life, to
bury it so deep in his heart that no other should ever mistrust it.
CHAPTER III.
WILLFUL VIOLET HAS HER OWN WAY.
That same evening a thoroughly competent nurse was installed by
Violet's bedside, and Mrs. Mencke, having given certain directions
regarding the care of her sister, returned to her home on Auburn
avenue.
She came every day afterward, however, to ascertain how Violet was
progressing, and though for a week her fever ran very high, and the
doctor considered her alarmingly ill, yet at the end of that time she
began slowly but surely to mend.
Consciousness returned, and with it the memory of all that had
occurred on that never-to-be-forgotten day, while she talked continually
of the brave young man who had saved her life.
When she was first told that she was in the same house with him, the
rich color suffused her face, and an eager look of interest leaped into
her eyes.
"In his home--am I? How strange!" she murmured; "how did it happen
that I was brought here?"
"Those who found you thought that you were brother and sister," the
nurse told her, thinking it no harm that she should know all the details,
if she did not get excited. "They found you together, one of his arms
clasping you close to him, and both your hands locked about his neck."

A burning blush shot up to the girl's