He himself would be the last one to claim pre-eminence among his fellows.

But his genial, open nature, his physical strength, and his generous, kindly impulses made him an eminently lovable man, and--well, she loved him, and believed she ever should.

Frail and defective in almost every respect herself, she would have thought it absurd to cherish some lofty and impossible ideal.

He was hearty, wholesome, honest, and she soon began to see that it would be a better and a nobler thing--a nearer approach to happiness--to become a woman whom he could trust and respect than merely to win a little admiration as a tribute to ephemeral beauty.
She would attain beauty if she could, but it should be the appendage, the ornament of mind and character.

She, who had seemed to him weakness itself, would aim to suggest eventually that noblest phase of strength--woman's patience and fortitude.
It must not be supposed that Madge reached these conclusions in days, weeks, or even months.