In after years Dora saw how much she was to blame.

She understood then how distasteful her quiet, sullen reserve must have been to a high-bred, fastidious man like Ronald.

She did not see it then, but nursed in her heart imaginary wrongs and injuries; and, above all, she yielded to a wild, fierce jealousy of Valentine Charteris.
For some weeks Miss Charteris saw the cloud deepening on Ronald's face.
He grew silent, and lost the flow of spirit that had once seemed never to fail; and during the few weeks that followed, a strong resolution grew in her mind.

She was his true friend, and she would try to restore peace and harmony between him and his wife.

She waited for some days, but at her mother's house it was impossible to see him alone.