but i told her i had grown up in that little parish in the near north of the city and she nodded and said she knew that place , that she had some girl friends who went there , or had gone there , before they moved away , and after a while she let me follow her home , and i saw her safely to the driveway of her parents ' house and got out and awkwardly said good by , and then all the way back on my drive to the sub-suburbs i felt an insane burning inside me and knew i was madly in love .