“ Her future, she thought, was likely to be worse than her past, for after her years of contented renunciation, she had slipped back into desire and longing ”
 George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (1860). copy citation

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“The sight of the old scenes had made the rush of memories so painful that even yesterday she had only been able to rejoice in her mother's restored comfort and Tom's brotherly friendliness as we rejoice in good news of friends at a distance, rather than in the presence of a happiness which we share. Memory and imagination urged upon her a sense of privation too keen to let her taste what was offered in the transient present. Her future, she thought, was likely to be worse than her past, for after her years of contented renunciation, she had slipped back into desire and longing; she found joyless days of distasteful occupation harder and harder; she found the image of the intense and varied life she yearned for, and despaired of, becoming more and more importunate. The sound of the opening door roused her, and hastily wiping away her tears, she began to turn over the leaves of her book.
«There is one pleasure, I know, Maggie, that your deepest dismalness will never resist,» said Lucy, beginning to speak as soon as she entered the room.” source

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