Her pride took offence at
the mere thought of such conversations. Presently she would
become an object of pity; there would be talk of 'poor Mrs
Reardon.' It was intolerable.
So during the last half year she had withheld as much as possible
from the intercourse which might have been one of her chief
pleasures. And to disguise the true cause she made pretences
which were a satire upon her state of mind--alleging that she had
devoted herself to a serious course of studies, that the care of
house and child occupied all the time she could spare from her
intellectual pursuits. The worst of it was, she had little faith
in the efficacy of these fictions; in uttering them she felt an
unpleasant warmth upon her cheeks, and it was not difficult to
detect a look of doubt in the eyes of the listener. She grew
angry with herself for being dishonest, and with her husband for
making such dishonesty needful.
The female friend with whom she had most trouble was Mrs Carter.
You remember that on the occasion of Reardon's first meeting with
his future wife, at the Grosvenor Gallery, there were present his
friend Carter and a young lady who was shortly to bear the name
of that spirited young man.
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