CHAPTER IV.
Dr.Letsom had prospered; one gleam of good fortune had brought with it a sudden outburst of sunshine.

The doctor had left his little house in Castle street, and had taken a pretty villa just outside Castledene.

He had furnished it nicely--white lace curtains were no longer an unattainable luxury; no house in the town looked so clean, so bright, or so pretty as the doctor's People began to look up to him; it was rumored that he had had money left to him--a fortune that rendered him independent of his practice.

No sooner was that quite understood than people began to find out that after all he was a very clever man.

No sooner did they feel quite convinced that he was indifferent about his practice than they at once appreciated his services; what had been called abruptness now became truth and sincerity He was declared to be like Dr.Abernethy--wonderfully clever, though slightly brusque in manner.