CHAPTER XXXIIIJean knew that if they had not behaved so well she could have borne the whole situation better.
It was what Beatrice and Ian denied themselves, not what they gave to each other, which struck straight at her heart. They trod the path of Duty with unfaltering feet; but they were treading it side by side.
Jean knew that they never saw each other alone; they met only in public.
There wasn't a joint in the armour of their virtue for anything so clumsy as the truth to penetrate.
Beatrice had made their marriage, and as long as it didn't interfere with her she intended to let it alone.
A wife on the hearth didn't matter to her if she could remain the Image in the shrine; and as long as Ian hovered perpetually before that Image, Beatrice was satisfied.
What time and attention h
