The final moment of divergence had come: its seeds were planted in her nature and in Stephen's when they were born.

Nothing could have hindered their growth, nothing could have forestalled their ultimate result.

It was only a question of time and of occasion, when the two forces would be arrayed against each other, and would be found equally strong.
Mercy took counsel with herself now, and delayed answering this second letter.

She was resolved to be just to Stephen.
"I will think this thing over and over," she said to herself, "till I am sure past all doubt that I am right, before I say another word." But her long thinking did not help Stephen.

Each day her conviction grew deeper, her perception clearer, her sense of alienation from Stephen profounder.