Her husband is her antagonist in the story. He’s found an alternative way to deal with the sad reality. He hid himself behind a book, so engrossed in reading that he didn’t notice how miserable his wife felt. He found a good way to escape the reality in books. He could read about a better life and imagine that that life was his. That was all he cared about. The reader can infer it from the repetition of the word to read: “Her husband went on reading”, “George was reading again”, “George was on the bed, reading”, it highlights his absorption in books.