nearly noon
She lay for a few minutes thinking of Forsythe , and trying to decide what she would wear when she went forth to meet him , for she wanted to charm him as she had never charmed any one before . She spent some time arraying herself in different costumes , but at last decided on her Commencement gown of fine white organdie , hand-embroidered and frilled with filmy lace , the product of a famous house of gowns in the Eastern city where she had attended school for a while and acquired expensive tastes . Daintily slippered , beribboned with coral-silk girdle , and with a rose from the vine over her window in her hair , she sallied forth at last to the trysting-place . Forsythe was a whole hour late , as became a languid gentleman who had traveled the day before and idled at his sister 's house over a late breakfast until nearly noon . Already his fluttering fancy was apathetic about Rosa , and he wondered , as he rode along , what had become of the interesting young teacher who had charmed him for more than a passing moment . Would he dare to call upon her , now that Gardley was out of the way ? Was she still in Ashland or had she gone home for vacation ?