They do not know Marcella as I do . She promised and she will keep her word -- keep it joyously and gladly , too . If I did not know that I would not wish its fulfilment . When she is free she will turn her back on that brilliant world and all it offers her and come back to me . My part is to wait and believe . '' So Doctor John waited and believed . After a little while the excitement died away and people forgot Marcella . We never heard from or about her , except a paragraph now and then in the society columns of the city paper the doctor took . We knew she was sent to school for three years ; then the Barrys took her abroad . She was presented at court . When the doctor read this -- he was with me at the time -- he put his hand over his eyes and sat very silent for a long time . I wondered if at last some momentary doubt had crept into his mind -- if he did not fear that Marcella must have forgotten him . The paper told of her triumph and her beauty and hinted at a titled match . Was it probable or even possible that she would be faithful to him after all this ? The doctor must have guessed my thoughts , for at last he looked up with a smile . `` She will come back , '' was all he said . But I saw that the doubt , if doubt it were , had gone . I watched him as he went away , that tall , gentle , kindly-eyed man , and I prayed that his trust might not be misplaced ; for if it should be it would break his heart . Five years seems a long time in looking forward . But they pass quickly .
One day I remembered XXXXX it was Marcella 's twenty-first birthday .
After If about at for from in that while with