She had always suffered from a vague restlessness, a longing for adventure that she told herself severely was the result of reading too many novels when she was a small child.

Trust your friendships.  Friends you will have need of, for in you two worlds meet.  There is no one on both sides with you, so you must learn to take your own counsel; and not to fear what is strange, if you know it also to be true.  It is not an enviable position, being a bridge...