She noted that it ticked raspingly.

The almost vanished flowers in the carpet-pattern, she conceived to be newly hideous.

Some faint attempts she had made with blue ribbon, to freshen the appearance of a dingy curtain, she now saw to be piteous.
She wondered what Pete dined on.
She reflected upon the collar and cuff factory.

It began to appear to her mind as a dreary place of endless grinding.

Pete's elegant occupation brought him, no doubt, into contact with people who had money and manners.