He knew, or thought he knew, that she had begun to care something for him.

It was no secret between them that the heroine of Jasper's first novel had been his own ideal of Rachel, and the hero in the story was himself and they had loved each other in the book, and Rachel had not objected.

No one else knew.

The names and characters had been drawn with a subtle skill that revealed to Rachel, when she received a copy of the book from Jasper, the fact of his love for her, and she had not been offended.
That was nearly a year ago.
Tonight he recalled the scene between them with every inflection and movement unerased from his memory.

He even recalled the fact that he began to speak just at that point on the avenue where, a few days before, he had met Rachel walking with Rollin Page.