Again the dusky red rushed to the doctor’s temples.
“If it is not convenient for you to hand me just the amount of my bill, you can send me a check for the sum later,” he said, coldly.
She bit her lips with mortification, and then tears rushed into her eyes.
“Oh, it is perfectly convenient. Excuse me; I did not intend to offend you, but I am truly grateful for the kind attention you have bestowed upon me, and I shall always entertain friendly memories of you.”
Dr. Turner returned a courteous bow for the promise of “friendly memories,” but remarked, briefly:
“I have but done my duty as a physician, madame.”
An angry flush mounted to her brow as she counted five golden eagles from her purse and laid them in his hand.
“I know,” she said, “that you think I am a heartless monster in woman’s form; but you would not, I am sure, if you could understand the strait that I am in.”
Another bow was his only reply to this.
He could not gainsay her statement regarding his estimate of her character, and he would not presume to inquire further into the mystery surrounding her.