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 , for the only son of the bride and groom was far away at college and could not be present . Norman Douglas had been there and they had met socially for the first time in years , though she had seen him once or twice in church that winter . Not the least sentiment was awakened in Ellen 's heart by their meeting . She was accustomed to wonder , when she thought about it at all , how she could ever have fancied him or felt so badly over his sudden marriage . But she had rather liked meeting him again . She had forgotten how bracing and stimulating he could be . No gathering was ever stagnant when Norman Douglas was present . Everybody had been surprised when Norman came . It was well known he never went anywhere . The Pollocks had invited him because he had been one of the original guests , but they never thought he would come . He had taken his second cousin , Amy Annetta Douglas , out to supper and seemed rather attentive to her .
But Ellen sat across the table XXXXX him and had a spirited argument with him -- an argument during which all his shouting and banter could not fluster her and in which she came off best , flooring Norman so composedly and so completely that he was silent for ten minutes .
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