The difference in the speed of time depends on whether love is your
guest or not.

The thought of the briefest interruption to my content made me feel
like cold storage. A break in happiness is sometimes hard to mend.
The blossom does not return to the tree after the storm, no matter
how beautiful the sunshine; and the awful fear of the faintest echo
of past sorrow made my heart as numb as a snowball. To the old
terror of loneliness was added fear for Jack's safety. But I did
not do what you naturally would prophesy. After seeing the look on
Jack's face I changed my mind, and my protest was the silent kind
that says so much. It was lost! Already Jack had gone into one of
his trances, as he does whenever there is a possibility of bearding
a brand-new microbe in its den, whether it is in his own country or
one beyond the seas. In body he was in a padded chair with all the
comforts of home and a charming wife within speaking distance. In
spirit he was in dust-laden China, joyfully following the trail of
the wandering germ. Later on, when Jack came to, we talked it
over. I truly remembered your warnings on the danger of
impetuosity; for I choked off every hasty word and gave my consent
for Jack to go. Then I cried half the night because I had.

We both know that long ago Jack headed for the topmost rung of a
very tall scientific ladder. Sometimes my enthusiasm as chief
booster and encourager has failed, as when it meant absence and
risk. Though I have known women who specialized in renunciation,
till they were the only happy people in the neighborhood, its
charms have never lured me into any violent sacrifice. Here was my
chance and I firmly refused to be the millstone to ornament Jack's
neck.