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"From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that

the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony,

the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of

returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the

morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that

something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was

out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she

seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America

because she had spent so short a time in this country that she

could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence

over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change

her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a

process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an

American. Then who could this American be, and why should he

possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might

be a husband.