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smiled at him gratefully. "I appreciate all you are trying to do for us, all you have always tried to do. Whatever the outcome, we owe you the utmost gratitude for your skill and"—she tilted her head, a teasing gleam in her eyes—"for your advice, even though it is not heeded." Then becoming serious again, she continued quietly, "I rather wonder if it would not be better for us if Alexander did not recover. If he does, he will only bring us to ruin again no matter how much he promises to mend his ways."
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    Lady Alex's Gamble
    by Evelyn Richardson
    She shook her head in bewilderment. "I do not know what happened. He used to be the most adventurous, the gayest and best of companions. One could always count on him to stick with one through anything, but something changed when he went to university. After he was sent down, he became reckless instead of adventurous, and without a thought for anything but his own amusement. I hardly knew him anymore and we had been the closest of friends before he went away," she concluded sadly.
    That is because you were the best of the pair, the doctor thought to himself. He knew that in truth it had been Alexandra's restless curiosity that had spurred them on in their exploits. It had been her quick mind that had extricated them from most of their difficulties, just as it had been her sense of responsibility that had kept them from doing anything truly destructive. It was she who had been the leader of the two. When Alexander went away long enough to recognize that, he had resented it mightily. Alexander had not really changed. He had always been a heedless lad with no thought for anyone but himself. It was only when he returned and eschewed the companionship and steadying influence of his twin that his monumental selfishness became so evident. The doctor's heart ached for Alexandra as she stood there, the light from the great leaded windows pouring in around her and beyond, just barely visible through them, the lovely old park she was trying so desperately to save. As quickly as he felt it, he banished the emotion. Repining would get none of them anywhere. Alexandra did not need sympathy from him—
    she needed help. And she would get it. With a brusque, "Good 42
    Lady Alex's Gamble
    by Evelyn Richardson
    day," the doctor pulled open the door and hurried out to his waiting carriage, leaving Alex to gaze pensively after him. Doctor Padgett had been such a good friend to them all. No, he had been more than a friend—almost a father to them after their own father had died, though it was a different sort of fatherliness he had offered. Where the old earl had been ebullient, romping endlessly with Abigail and Andrew, teasing Althea, playing cards with Alex, and riding hell-for-leather across the fields with his oldest son, the doctor had been undemonstrative—almost gruff. But they had known, as children somehow do, that he was fond of them all. While their father had lavished them with presents. Doctor Padgett had listened to their childish troubles, paying as much attention to them and offering advice as seriously as if they had been the most important of his patients. To Alexandra, he had given the greatest gift—that of encouraging her education. The old earl, though a product of Oxford, had spent the bulk of his time educating himself in games of chance, only availing himself infrequently of any opportunities for informing his mind. Nor, settled happily into the life of a country gentleman, did he see the slightest need for anyone—especially a woman—to learn anything beyond the most rudimentary elements of history, grammar, and mathematics.
    The doctor, catching Alexandra one day poring over books left by the estate's previous owner, had recognized a mind which thirsted for knowledge. Being a self-sufficient sort, she had done remarkably well at educating herself. Her gratitude at his explanation of a challenging mathematical equation had 43
    Lady Alex's Gamble
    by Evelyn