Chapter 27

“Wait a minute. Then suppose, after the evening in the rose-garden with the gentle, clinging little girl, he concluded he never could be happy with Maddy, and suppose he came at eleven o’clock, or whatever time it was, to tell her so, and to ask her to set him free.” “On the eve of the wedding day? With the house already in gala dress for the ceremony?” “Yes, suppose the very nearness of the ceremony made it seem to him impossible to go through with it.” “Well?” “Well, and then suppose he did ask Madeleine to free …