Sarah and her old friends she had shunned. They looked at her with curious eyes, and were inquisitive. Wendell was different. You couldn’t possibly be offended by him. And after these long weeks of loneliness, what bliss it was to meet someone again who liked you, and didn’t disapprove of your conduct. There was another thing: it was pleasant to enjoy a man’s company again. There were things men did for you, like helping you into your coat, and holding doors for you to pass through, that your own sex did not do. When you were with a man, too, he looked after everything; it was his job. All you had to do was to sit still and let him wait on you.

So she allowed Wendell to come to see her, and she allowed herself to go out with him. Stephen had introduced him to her; he was Stephen’s friend, and hers. His high spirits refreshed her. Sometimes they impelled him to say things that he should not have said, but she told herself that was merely his natural effervescence. He took her snubs well; she thought him easy to manage.

She found herself leaning on him for support and advice. She was not made to stand alone. Little disturbances worried her out of all proportions; it was misery to be by herself, bliss to know that there was a cheerful friend at hand to turn to. There was Mr. Hengist, but his business occupied most of his time. Elizabeth wanted a man who was always free, and always ready to help.

Wendell put up her bookshelves and hung her pictures; he went out to buy cake when she found there was none for tea; he was like an elder brother, full of fun, only more admiring. She liked his admiration, she was pleased when he brought her chocolates or flowers. She thought the friendship purely platonic, as it had always been. Her marriage protected her. When you were married you could entertain men; she believed that firmly. Moreover she had been told so many times that she was a prude. She would not be prudish now.