Combining in herself such contradictory elements, she was unable to make close friendships.

Her intimacy with Mrs.Rossall, which dated from her late childhood, was not the perfect accord which may subsist between women of very different characters, yet here she gave and received more sympathy than elsewhere.
It was her frequent saying that she came to Mrs.Rossall's house when she wanted to rest.

Here she could be herself, could pass without interval from pietistic argument to chatter about her neighbours, could indulge in impulses of confession as with no one else, could put off the strain of existence which was the result of her conflicting impulses.
But it was only during a portion of the year that she could have Mrs.
Rossall's society at other times, though no one suspected it, she suffered much from loneliness.

With her mother she was in accord on the subjects of religion and music, but even natural affection, blending with these sympathies, could not bring about complete unity in her home there was the same lack that she experienced in the outer world.

For all her versatility, she was not in appearance emotional; no one seemed less likely to be overcome by passion.