his imaginings startled him. they marked a shift in character and priority, away from the guilt and
selfishness that had marked his life up until the reappearance of his Beatrice. a shift toward the
permanence of a commitment to a woman with whom he wanted to create a family, with whom
he wanted to create a child. his love for Julianne had changed him in multiple ways. he hadn't
been aware of how dramatic the changes were until he gazed at the pregnant stranger with a kind
of wistful envy.