_Now_ we should have married.

But things were very different _then_.

When my father found Captain Crofton was not in a position to make what was then regarded as a proper settlement, he declared the engagement at an end." Janet felt touched.

There was such a depth of restrained feeling in her old friend's voice.

Somehow it had never occurred to her that Olivia Pendarth could ever have been in love! "It must be very painful for you to have her here," she said involuntarily.
"In a way, yes.