John was waiting for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose. Thirteen months ago, in a Florida library he took a book off the shelf and found himself intrigued with the notes in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.

    In front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.

    During the next year and one-month the two grew to know each other through the mail. A Romance was budding. John requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. Later they scheduled their first meeting-7:00 pm at Grand Central Station in New York.

    "You'll recognize me, " she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel." So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for the girl with the red rose.

    A young woman in a green suit was coming toward him, her figure long and slim and her eyes were blue as flowers. Almost uncontrollably he made one step closer to her, and just at this moment he saw Hollis Maynell-a woman well past 40. The girl was walking quickly away. He felt as though he split in two, so keen was his desire to follow her, and yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned him and upheld his own.

    He did not hesitate. He squared his shoulders and said, "I’m John, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"

    The woman smiled, "I don’t know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"

    It’s not difficult to admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in it's response to the unattractive.

    約翰在等著他早已相知的女孩，雖然不知道她長什么樣子，但是曉得她衣領上有著玫瑰的圖案而來。十三個月以前，在佛羅里達州的一家小書店里面，當他從書架上面拿下來一本書后，他注意到書上邊緣空白處的眉批。輕柔的字跡里透出她本人善于思考的內心和睿智的頭腦。

    在書店的前臺那里，他找到了前一位借書人的名字。赫麗思.梅妮爾小姐。他花了心思和時間來找出她的住址。他寫了封自薦信并邀請對方和自己寫信交流。

    在接下來的一年零一個月里面，這兩人通過傳遞書信而彼此相知，暗生情愫。約翰向對方索要玉照，但是她回絕了。她提出的理由是要是約翰真的在乎自己的話，那么不管她是什么樣子，他都可以接受的。后來他們約定第一次約會時間-在紐約的大中央車站那里見面，下午7點鐘。

    她寫道：“你一定會認出我來的，在我穿的翻領上面有著紅玫瑰圖案”，于是約翰就在車站那里等待有著紅玫瑰圖案的女生的到來。

    一位身著嫩綠色外套的年輕女孩徑直向他走來，她有著修長而苗條的身材，如藍色花朵顏色般的雙眸。約翰幾乎情不自禁地想要向她走去，而就在此時她看到了真正的赫麗思.梅妮爾小姐-一位四十好幾的中年女人。那漂亮女孩快步走開了，而約翰此時思緒被分開了，他既非常想去追前面的漂亮女孩而內心又很想和那位真正心靈高尚而又支持陪伴她的赫麗思.梅妮爾在一起。

    他不再猶豫，鼓起了勇氣走向那為中年女人那里說道：“我就是約翰，您一定是赫麗思.梅妮爾小姐吧。在這見到您我很榮幸，能賞臉一起去吃個飯么？”

    那個女人笑著對約翰說道：“孩子，我不知道這是怎么一會事。前面那個漂亮女孩懇求我在翻領那里戴上這個玫瑰圖案。她還說如果你邀請我去吃飯，讓我告訴她在街對面的的餐館里等你呢。她說這是一種對你的考驗。”
無可否認，梅妮爾小姐的智慧是另人折服的。在和不喜歡的人打交道的時候才能真正看出來一個人的本性。