"Not the woman who sat beside him?
The woman with the big eyes?
She and Bale-Corphew! The idea is absurd!" "Undeniable, nevertheless.

I have deduced the story.

The lady is a widow--no relations--too much freedom--vague aspirations after the ideal.

She has sounded society and found it too shallow; sounded philosophy and found it too deep; and upon her horizon of desires and disappointments has loomed the colossal presence of Bale-Corphew--enthusiast, mystic, leader of a fascinatingly unorthodox sect.

What is the result?
The lady--too feminine to be truly modern, too modern to be wholly womanly--is viewing life through new glasses, and by their medium seeing Horatio invested with a halo otherwise invisible." The Prophet remained quiet and silent; then he rose slowly from his seat and walked round the table.