Where did the mistake come in ? How had it happened ? I shut my eyes and conjured up the vision of Peter 's room that day . I remembered vaguely that , when I had picked up Dorothy Armstrong 's picture , I had noticed another photograph that had fallen face downward beside it . That must have been Marian Lindsay 's , and Peter had thought I meant it . And now what a position I was in ! I was conscious of bitter disappointment . I had fallen in love with Dorothy Armstrong 's photograph . As far as external semblance goes it was she whom I loved . I was practically engaged to another woman -- a woman who , in spite of our correspondence , seemed to me now , in the shock of this discovery , a stranger . It was useless to tell myself that it was the mind and soul revealed in those letters that I loved , and that that mind and soul were Marian Lindsay 's . It was useless to remember that Peter had said she was pretty . Exteriorly , she was a stranger to me ; hers was not the face which had risen before me for nearly a year as the face of the woman I loved . Was ever unlucky wretch in such a predicament before ? Well , there was only one thing to do . I must stand by my word . Marian Lindsay was the woman I had asked to marry me , whose answer I must shortly go to receive . If that answer were `` yes '' I must accept the situation and banish all thought of Dorothy Armstrong 's pretty face . Next evening at sunset I went to `` Glenwood , '' the Lindsay place . Doubtless , an eager lover might have gone earlier , but an eager lover I certainly was not .
Probably Marian was expecting me and had given orders concerning me , for the maid who came to the door conveyed me to a little room behind the stairs -- a room which , as I felt XXXXX soon as I entered it , was a woman 's pet domain .
If as at before beside by in of that to