She had no doubt of her ability to help him.

Therefore her face and her answering "Yes ?" were warmly encouraging.
It is a general belief that a woman always knows, instinctively, when a man is going to propose to her.

She cannot be taken unawares; her flutter, her surprise, her hesitancy are assumed as being artistically suitable, but her unpreparedness is never bona fide.

If this be the true psychology of the matter then Esther's case was the exception which proves the rule.

No warning came to her, no intuition.