She had to say no -- and she suddenly found she could not say it . It was the impossible word . She knew now that it was not that she COULD have loved John Meredith , but that she DID love him . The thought of putting him from her life was agony . She must say SOMETHING ; she lifted her bowed golden head and asked him stammeringly to give her a few days for -- for consideration . John Meredith was a little surprised . He was not vainer than any man has a right to be , but he had expected that Rosemary West would say yes . He had been tolerably sure she cared for him . Then why this doubt -- this hesitation ? She was not a school girl to be uncertain as to her own mind . He felt an ugly shock of disappointment and dismay . But he assented to her request with his unfailing gentle courtesy and went away at once . `` I will tell you in a few days , '' said Rosemary , with downcast eyes and burning face . When the door shut behind him she went back into the room and wrung her hands . CHAPTER XXII . ST. GEORGE KNOWS ALL ABOUT IT At midnight Ellen West was walking home from the Pollock silver wedding . She had stayed a little while after the other guests had gone , to help the gray-haired bride wash the dishes . The distance between the two houses was not far and the road good , so that Ellen was enjoying the walk back home in the moonlight . The evening had been a pleasant one . Ellen , who had not been to a party for years , found it very pleasant .
All the guests had been members of her old set and there was no intrusive youth to spoil the flavour , XXXXX the only son of the bride and groom was far away at college and could not be present .
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