It spoke of disease, and drew the pity of the passer-by.
Her loneliness grew upon her--penetrated and pursued her.

She could not resign herself to it.

She was always struggling with it, beating it away, as a frightened child might struggle with the wave that overwhelms it on the beach.

A few weeks ago she had been so happy, so rich in friends--the world had been so warm and kind! And now it seemed to her that she had no friends; no one to whom she could turn; no one she wished to see, except this girl--this girl she had known barely a couple of months--by whom she had been made desolate! She thought of those winter gatherings in Rome which she had enjoyed with so keen a pleasure; the women she had liked, who had liked her in return, to whom her eager wish to love and be loved had made her delightful.

But beneath her outward sweetness she carried a proud and often unsuspected reserve.