In "The Demon Lover," Mrs. Drover "polished a clear patch" on her dusty mirror so that she could see herself. When she gazed into the mirror, "she was confronted by a woman of forty-four." The time had seemed to pass quickly after her marriage. Mrs. Drover's physical appearance had been changed by the hardships of war. Rationing of foods had caused her to lose a good deal of weight, and "the pearls her husband had given her on their marriage hung loose round her now rather thinner throat." A recent illness had caused "an intermittent muscular flicker to the left of her mouth." This served as a reminder of the illness she had suffered. She was tired from the hardships of life and the added stress of the war.
Despite this all the recent hardships, her "most normal expression was one of controlled worry but of assent." Mrs. Drover was a woman who had been a source of steadiness and dependability for her husband and three children. She suffered from inner fear and anxiety due to the traumatizing bombings in London, but she still was able to "sustain a manner that was at once energetic and calm." Mrs. Drover held most of her fears and concerns inside of her. She did not want to appear anxious to her family, even though she was. She was also filled with a new fear because of the mysterious and ominous nature of the letter she received.
Mrs. Drover's appearance matched her inner feelings. She was tired, weary, feeling the effects of an illness, underweight, and anxious. She had been changed by the war and by the recent years.
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