Ida Edgham was, in some respects, a peculiar personality.

She was as much stronger, in another way, than her husband, as her predecessor had been.

She was that anomaly: a creature of supreme self-satisfaction, who is yet aware of its own limits.

She was so unemotional as to be almost abnormal, but she had head enough to realize the fact that absolute unemotionlessness in a woman detracts from her charm.

She therefore simulated emotion.