“But better days will come. Your husband will be rightly valued. And he depends on you for comfort. He loves you best. The worst loss would be to lose that⁠—and you have not lost it,” said Dorothea.

She tried to thrust away the too overpowering thought of her own relief, lest she should fail to win some sign that Rosamond’s affection was yearning back towards her husband.

“Tertius did not find fault with me, then?” said Rosamond, understanding now that Lydgate might have said anything to Mrs. Casaubon, and that she certainly was different from other women. Perhaps there was a faint taste of jealousy in the question. A smile began to play over Dorothea’s face as she said⁠—

“No, indeed! How could you imagine it?” But here the door opened, and Lydgate entered.