But this possibility, after all, was not so disagreeable as the probability which forced itself upon him with every tick of the clock that Katharine had completely forgotten her engagement.

Such things had happened less frequently since Christmas, but what if they were going to begin to happen again?
What if their marriage should turn out, as she had said, a farce?
He acquitted her of any wish to hurt him wantonly, but there was something in her character which made it impossible for her to help hurting people.

Was she cold?
Was she self-absorbed?
He tried to fit her with each of these descriptions, but he had to own that she puzzled him.
"There are so many things that she doesn't understand," he reflected, glancing at the letter to Cassandra which he had begun and laid aside.
What prevented him from finishing the letter which he had so much enjoyed beginning?
The reason was that Katharine might, at any moment, enter the room.

The thought, implying his bondage to her, irritated him acutely.

It occurred to him that he would leave the letter lying open for her to see, and he would take the opportunity of telling her that he had sent his play to Cassandra for her to criticize.