Emily did not look back, not once, all the way to the door.

She had spent the entire evening waiting for Andrew to stand up.

She understood now that he never would, that the waiting had been the whole answer, and that a woman should not marry a man she has to wait for while her mother is being humiliated three feet away.

The ring stayed on the table.

So did the last of Emily’s illusions about the man she had almost married.

Chapter 6 — The Quiet Man in the Gray Jacket