`` Miss Ponsonby , '' said Jerry , `` before we assist you in returning to those ancestral halls of yours you 've simply got to tell us what all this means . '' Miss Ponsonby gave a little , shy , nervous laugh . `` Stephen Shaw and I were engaged to be married long ago , '' she said simply . `` But Father disapproved . Stephen was poor then . And so -- and so -- I sent him away . What else could I do ? '' -- for Jerry had snorted -- `` Father had to be obeyed . But it broke my heart . Stephen went away -- he was very angry -- and I have never seen him since . When Susan Hubbard invited me to the party I felt as if I must go -- I must see Stephen once more . I never thought for a minute that he remembered me -- or cared still ... '' `` But he does ? '' said Jerry breathlessly . Jerry never scruples to ask anything right out that she wants to know . `` Yes , '' said Miss Ponsonby softly . `` Is n't it wonderful ? I could hardly believe it -- I am so changed . But he said tonight he had never thought of any other woman . He -- he came home to see me . But when I never went anywhere , even when I must know he was home , he thought I did n't want to see him .
If I had n't gone tonight -- oh , I owe it all XXXXX you two dear girls ! ''
Father Hubbard Ponsonby Shaw before for minute of since to