She did not seem to notice his presence until he put his hand upon her, which he did without speaking.

At this she started up and looked at him with a kind of fierce intentness.
"Are you a party to this frightful things ?" she demanded.
Mr.Dinneford weakly handed her the letter he had received from Edith.
She read it through in half the time it had taken his tear-dimmed eyes to make out the touching sentences.

After she had done so, she stood for a few moments as if surprised or baffled.

Then she sat down, dropping her head, and remained for a long time without speaking.
"The bitter fruit, Mr.Dinneford," she said, at last, in a voice so strange and hard that it seemed to his ears as if another had spoken.
All passion had died out of it.
He waited, but she added nothing more.

After a long silence she waved her hand slightly, and without looking at her husband, said, "I would rather be alone." Mr.Dinneford took Edith's letter from the floor, where it had dropped from his wife's hand, and withdrew from her presence.