Explore "The Well of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Ralph said very little about the ring. What could he say? A present given to his wife by the daughter of a neighbour -- an unusually costly present of course -- still, after all, what could he say? He took refuge in sulky silence. But Stephen would see him staring at the pearl, which Angela wore on her right-hand third finger, and his weak little eyes would look redder than usual, perhaps with anger -- one could never quite tell from his eyes whether he was tearful or angry.
And because of those eyes with their constant menace, Stephen must play her conciliatory role; and this she must do in spite of his rudeness, for now he was openly rude and hostile. And he bullied. It was almost as though he took pleasure in bullying his wife when Stephen was present; her presence seemed to arouse in the man everything that was ill-bred, petty and cruel. He would make thinly-veiled allusions to the past, glancing sideways at Stephen the while he did so; and one day when she flushed to the roots of her hair with rage to see Angela humble and fearful, he laughed loudly: "I'm just a plain tradesman, you know; if you don't like my ways, then you'd better not come here. " Catching Angela's eye, Stephen tried to laugh too.