Washington ? Sen. John Edwards interrupted his Walt Disney World vacation last week to meet with Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, adding a new level of intrigue to the vice presidential search, which Democrats expect to end today.

Kerry must select a vice presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention, which begins in Boston on July 26. Delegates will be asked to formally nominate his pick.

The Massachusetts senator said Monday he had not settled on a running mate, but that didn’t stop the rampant speculation in Democratic circles. Party leaders said they were told to expect a decision today.

“I’ve made no decision at this point in time, and I’m going to continue to keep it a private and personal process until I announce it publicly,” the senator told WTAE, an ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh. Since the search began in March, Kerry’s staff has disclosed almost nothing about his list of candidates, their interviews and his winnowing process.

Edwards, a polished populist from North Carolina, outlasted all but Kerry in the Democratic primary fight and is the favorite of many party regulars. Two officials close to the Kerry campaign, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Edwards interrupted a family vacation and flew Thursday from Florida to Washington to meet secretly with Kerry.

They say the meeting went extremely well and that the freshman senator’s stock has been rising with Kerry. But they cautioned against reading too much into the session because he’s not the only potential vice presidential candidate who has covertly met with the presidential candidate.

Kerry also has given serious consideration to Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Sen. Bob Graham of Florida.

The focus of last-minute speculation, Edwards is the favorite of many Democratic activists because of his youthful good looks, a self-assured manner and a message that focused on President Bush’s “two Americas” — one for the wealthy and another for everybody else.

Others express concern that Edwards, whose only political credential is a single term in the Senate, lacks the experience in international affairs, particularly in wartime, to be a credible candidate to assume the presidency in the case of death, resignation or removal.