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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: Manstey's increasing infirmity, which caused her to dread the
three flights of stairs between her room and the street, would
have given her pause on the eve of undertaking so long a journey;
and without perhaps, formulating these reasons she had long since
accepted as a matter of course her solitary life in New York.
She was, indeed, not quite lonely, for a few friends still toiled
up now and then to her room; but their visits grew rare as the
years went by. Mrs. Manstey had never been a sociable woman, and
during her husband's lifetime his companionship had been all-
sufficient to her. For many years she had cherished a desire to
live in the country, to have a hen-house and a garden; but this
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