But he had exposed her weakness; had forced her to see it, naked and pitiful, with no chivalry--either manly or brotherly--covering it; and seeing it with nothing to depend upon, she learned for the first time in her life the high, stern lesson of independence.
She learned it unconsciously, but she never forgot it.

And it is to Endymion's credit that he recognised the great alteration and allowed for it.

He had driven her too far.

She would never again be the same Dorothea.

And never again by word or look did he remind her of that hour of abasement.
An exchange of prisoners was not to be managed in a day, and would take weeks, perhaps six weeks or a couple of months.