Quote 40
And we fell back on the guitar-case, and the flower-painting, and the songs about never leaving off dancing, Ta ra la! and were as happy as the week was long. I occasionally wished I could venture to hint to Miss Lavinia, that she treated the darling of my heart a little too much like a plaything; and I sometimes awoke, as it were, wondering to find that I had fallen into the general fault, and treated her like a plaything too—but not often. (41.151)
Because David is quite childish himself, he willfully ignores the signs that he and Dora are actually not in perfect sympathy with each other. But we also find it intriguing that David treats Dora just the same way all the other people around Dora do: like a "plaything." Dora loves the guitar and the flower-painting because all she knows how to do is play; she can't work and she won't work. But this isn't just a problem of gender. It's also a problem of having too much money. None of the poorer women in this novel can afford to spend all day singing "songs about never leaving off dancing."
Quote 41
With her own sweet tranquillity, she calmed my agitation; led me back to the time of our parting; spoke to me of Emily, whom she had visited, in secret, many times; spoke to me tenderly of Dora's grave. With the unerring instinct of her noble heart, she touched the chords of my memory so softly and harmoniously, that not one jarred within me; I could listen to the sorrowful, distant music, and desire to shrink from nothing it awoke. How could I, when, blended with it all, was her dear self, the better angel of my life? (60.38)
At last we get a description of David's model lady. What he wants from a woman is someone who "[calms his] agitation" and helps him to reflect back on memories of his life without pain. In other words, he wants a woman who will allow him to talk and think endlessly about himself. How well rounded is Agnes as a character? How much do we know about her personal sorrows and concerns?