But she knew, and Morel knew, that that act had caused something momentous to take place in her soul.

She remembered the scene all her life, as one in which she had suffered the most intensely.
This act of masculine clumsiness was the spear through the side of her love for Morel.

Before, while she had striven against him bitterly, she had fretted after him, as if he had gone astray from her.

Now she ceased to fret for his love: he was an outsider to her.

This made life much more bearable.
Nevertheless, she still continued to strive with him.