It will probably not surprise the reflective reader that Ralph Touchett should have seen less of his cousin since her marriage than he had done before that event--an event of which he took such a view as could hardly prove a confirmation of intimacy.

He had uttered his thought, as we know, and after this had held his peace, Isabel not having invited him to resume a discussion which marked an era in their relations.

That discussion had made a difference--the difference he feared rather than the one he hoped.

It had not chilled the girl's zeal in carrying out her engagement, but it had come dangerously near to spoiling a friendship.
No reference was ever again made between them to Ralph's opinion of Gilbert Osmond, and by surrounding this topic with a sacred silence they managed to preserve a semblance of reciprocal frankness.

But there was a difference, as Ralph often said to himself--there was a difference.