Brave, strong, handsome, whimsical--why, Cutty was a catch! Comfy.

Never any of that inherent doubt of man when she was with him.
Absolute trust.

An evil thought had entered her head; fate had made it honourably possible.

And still this mysterious repellence.
Romance?
She was not surrendering her right to that.

What was a year out of her life if afterward she would be in comfortable circumstances, free to love where she willed?
She wasn't cheating herself or Cutty: she was cheating convention, a flimsy thing at best.
Windows.