On the surface, a Montero victory might lead to Charles Gould's death. But it's possible that Mrs Gould wonders about something else: what will happen to her own San Tomé ideal, which is bound up in the Ribierist cause. The "something like faintness" she feels might be the thought of what would happen to her altruist ideal without his materialist one, the possibility that it would revert to an insubstantial "vagueness." Though "Charley" is the name in her head, there are several instances when Mrs Gould responds mentally to a threat to herself by referring it sympathetically to another person (see and ).

On the surface, her look at Antonia is one of sympathy: Antonia's loved one (Don Jose) would also be in danger with a Montero victory. Allegorically, however, Antonia represents idealism, and her Sphinx-like aspect in this scene (perfectly silent, with a "still face") does not reassure Mrs Gould in her dread.