mall and separate, the size of the
glass leaving a large space for the reflection of other things.

Chapter XXIII

But no brush was able to efface completely the expression of happiness,
so that Mrs. Ambrose could not treat them when they came downstairs
as if they had spent the morning in a way that could be discussed
naturally. This being so, she joined in the world's conspiracy to
consider them for the time incapacitated from the business of life,
struck by their intensity of feeling into enmity against life, and
almost succeeded in dismissing them from her thoughts.

She reflected that she had done all that it was necessary to do in
practical matters. She had written a great many letters, and had
obtained Willoughby's consent. She had dwelt so often upon Mr. Hewet's
prospects, his profession, his birth, appearance, and temperament, that
she had almost forgotten what he was really like. When she refreshed
herself by a look at him, she used to wonder again what he was like, and
then, concluding that they were happy at any rate, thought no more about
it.

She might more profitably consider what would happen in three years'
time, or what might have happened if Rachel had been left to explore the
world under her father's guidance. The result, she was honest enough
to own, might have been better--who knows? She did not disguise from
herself that Terence had faults. She was inclined to think him too easy
and tolerant, just as he was inclined to think her perhaps a trifle
hard--no, it was rather that she was uncompromising. In some ways she
found St. John preferable; but then, of course, he would never have
suited Rachel. Her friendship with St. John was established, for
although she fluctuated between irritation and interest in a way that
did credit to the candour of her disposition, she liked his company on
the whole. He took her outside this little world of love and emotion.
He had a grasp of facts. Supposing, for instance, that England made a
sudden move towards some unknown port on the coast of Morocco, St.
John knew what was at the back of it, and to hear him engaged with her
husband in argument about finance and the balance of power, gave her
an odd sense of stability. She respected their arguments without always
listening to them, much as she respected a solid brick wall, or one
of those immense municipal buildings which, although they compose the
greater part of our cities, have been built day after d