He is here , of course , he and his wife . Did n't you see her ? That pretty woman in pale pink , Lil Meredith . Why , you used to know Lil , did n't you ? One of the Uxbridge Merediths ? '' To the day of his death Selwyn Grant will firmly believe that if he had not clutched fast hold of the top bar of the gate he would have tumbled down on the moss under the beeches in speechless astonishment . All the surprises of that surprising evening were as nothing to this . He had a swift conviction that there were no words in the English language that could fully express his feelings and that it would be a waste of time to try to find any . Therefore he laid hold of the first baldly commonplace ones that came handy and said tamely , `` I thought you were married to Tom . '' `` You -- thought -- I -- was -- married -- to -- Tom ! '' repeated Esme slowly . `` And have you thought that all these years , Selwyn Grant ? '' `` Yes , I have . Is it any wonder ? You were engaged to Tom when I went away , Jenny told me you were . And a year later Bertha wrote me a letter in which she made some reference to Tom 's marriage . She did n't say to whom , but had n't I the right to suppose it was to you ? '' `` Oh ! '' The word was partly a sigh and partly a little cry of long-concealed , long-denied pain . `` It 's been all a funny misunderstanding .
Tom and I were engaged once -- a boy-and-girl affair XXXXX the beginning .
Bertha English Grant Merediths To first in of right that