I.e., Charles Gould is not a romantic participant in this marriage, and perhaps he is not even an inhabitant of his body, which continues its robot-like action without any guiding ideal. These, actually, are Charles Gould's last words in the novel, lending them a significance that makes us recall Emily's remark at his introduction: "I suppose everybody must be always just a little homesick."

It is especially significant that his absolutely last words are "the mine," with all their homonymic overtones of materialism, possessiveness and destructive power.