Gallant thinks that every relationship is not perfect. She puts Carol into a businesslike position towards marrage turning her business partner, Howard, into her “lover”. Carol suggests to the reader that love is just a stilly fantasy that is used to make people happy and it only happens in Hollywood movies. Carol is a person who studied relationships in college and who wants the perfect relationship based on studies that happened with people who didn't have love in the relationship but had a common interest. Carols relationship with
Howard is used to seem like a business deal. Gallant makes Carol's first proposal seem like it was nothing, that the guy was not what she needed but what she wanted. Carol didnt like the idea of having an unsteady life.
Howard makes his engagement businesslike. There were no feelings in their relationship. It was made into a relationship because Carol, like Howard, did not want to be alone for the rest of her life, even though they are both aren't even in their thirties yet.
Howard makes the decision that he needs to get married for his sister, who came to visit and said things