I am near you all the while.

You must not let this make any difference.
You will not see her any more." Still he knew that it would make a difference.
Reassured as to Rita's condition, he went back to Aileen's room to plead with her again--to soothe her if he could.

He found her up and dressing, a new thought and determination in her mind.

Since she had thrown herself on the bed sobbing and groaning, her mood had gradually changed; she began to reason that if she could not dominate him, could not make him properly sorry, she had better leave.

It was evident, she thought, that he did not love her any more, seeing that his anxiety to protect Rita had been so great; his brutality in restraining her so marked; and yet she did not want to believe that this was so.