Edith was the only woman for whom even a little affection could last, and he would have long tired of her but for her exceptional character and the extraordinary trouble and tact she used with him.

He didn't appreciate her fine shades, he was not in love with her, didn't value her as another man might have done.

But he was always coming back to a certain steady, renewed feeling of tenderness for her.
With the curious blindness common to all married people (and indeed to any people who live together), clever Edith had been entirely taken in, in a certain sense; she had always felt (until the 'Townsend case') half disdainfully but satisfactorily certain of Bruce's fidelity.

She knew that he had little sham flirtations, but she had never imagined his going anywhere near an intrigue.

She saw now that in that she had been duped, and that if he didn't do more it was not from loyalty to her.