But he had taken the issue for granted, refused to face the immensity of it all.

She had had her first taste of sacrificial flames, and her spirit was prepared to go through fire to reach him.

And he presented himself as already folded and protected; satisfied with some inferior and independent secret of his own.
She felt that a little perturbation would have become him more than that impenetrable peace.
It would make it so difficult to raise him..