Even his feeling about his little girl was qualified.
-- Narrator (Pages 62 - 65)

Importance: In the opening pages of the story, the narrator describes John's relationship with his daughter. Though Ede is often a balm for John's bouts of despair, she also irritates him. This line enacts this pivot between John's emotional reactions to his daughter. In the moment preceding this line, the narrator is describing the delight John takes in listening to Ede run and talk, and in the passage following this line, the narrator begins describing how Ede has interrupted John's life and causes him irritation. His dichotomous feelings towards Ede, embedded in this one sentence, not only teach the reader about who John is, but speak to the larger narrative stakes.

The baby party started at half past four, but Edith Andros, calculating shrewdly that the new dress would stand out more sensationally against vestments already rumpled, planned the arrival of herself...
-- Narrator (Pages 62 - 65)