She did not dare to betray Millicent, because the honour of her sex must be held up by an exaggerated honour in herself.

Thus her love for Jack Meredith tied her hands, while she stood idly by to see him wreck his own life by what could only be a miserable union.
With the clear sight of the onlooker, Jocelyn Gordon now saw that, by Jack Meredith's own showing, Millicent was quite unworthy of him.

But she also remembered words, silences, and hints which demonstrated with lamentable plainness the fact that he loved her.

She was old enough and sufficiently experienced to avoid the futile speculation as to what had attracted this love.

She knew that men marry women who in the estimation of onlooking relatives are unworthy of them, and live happily ever afterwards, without deeming it necessary to explain to those relatives how it comes about.
Now it happened that this woman--Jocelyn Gordon--was not one of those who gracefully betray themselves at the right moment and are immediately covered with a most becoming confusion.