Mrs Gould is often presented in a setting of natural imagery, which serves to
distinguish her from the materialistic or mechanistic Charles Gould. The beauty
of the description is clearly meant to make us sympathize with her, but we must
be on guard as to the narrator's bias: the "glaring" room was described
just before as having "soft" light, and the "stones in the rings"
reference seems almost a narrative boycott of the metal on her person. In both
cases -- lamplight and natural shade -- the Goulds are out of the sunlight, i.e.,
remaining within their own proper dream-ideals. In other words, this description
does not imply that Emily has been shut out by a stony-hearted Charles, so much
as that the two lives are growing separate due to the differences between their
incompatible ideals.