It expressed interest only in his affairs, telling little of her own except the fact that she desired to return.

Autumn came, and Susannah's faith in man was tested to the utmost by the dreariness of daily disappointment.
If Ephraim were dead surely his mother or his friend would return her letters.

If Ephraim were not dead what could be the explanation of this silence?
Many vicissitudes of life occurred to her as possibly producing a change in him, and only one explanation of his silence was possible--that he was changed.

That was a terrible belief to face.

Her faith took the bit in its teeth and refused to be guided by intelligence.