Observing Mr. and Mrs. Brympton together for the first time, Hartley is quick to notice that Mr. Brympton does not have a salutary influence on his wife. On the contrary, his arrival at and presence in the house has seemed to suck the life out of her: she is pale and cold to the touch, like a cadaver. Moreover, when he leaves the day after his arrival—another indication of what a poor husband he is, since he leaves his ill wife for such long stretches—she seems to return to health: color comes back into her cheeks and, as Hartley notes…