The causes which had produced a struggle were still in existence, and liable to become active, by provocation, at any moment.

No change had taken place in the characters, dispositions, temperaments or general views of life in either of the parties.

Strife had ceased between them only in consequence of the pain it involved.

A deep conviction of this fact so sobered the mind of Mr.Emerson, and altered, in consequence, his manner toward Irene, that she felt its reserve and coldness as a rebuke that chilled the warmth of her tender impulses.
And this manner did not greatly change as the days and weeks moved onward.

Memory kept too vividly in the mind of Emerson that one act, and the danger of its repetition on some sudden provocation.