In the final lines of the story, Freeman uses two similes to capture the freedom Louisa feels after ending her engagement with Joe, as seen in the following passage:
She gazed ahead through a long reach of future days strung together like pearls in a rosary, every one like the others, and all smooth and flawless and innocent, and her heart went up in thankfulness. Outside was the fervid summer afternoon; the air was filled with the sounds of the busy harvest of men and birds and bees; there were halloos, metallic clatterings, sweet calls, and long hummings. Louisa sat, prayerfully numbering her days, like an uncloistered nun.
The first simile here—“She gazed ahead through a long reach of future days strung together like pearls in a rosary […] all smooth and flawless and innocent”—helps readers to understand how happy Louisa feels now that she is single with no expectations to get married. While many people would be upset at the idea of a future made up of days in which “every one [is] like the others”—like the beads in a rosary—Louisa finds it comforting and hopeful. This is because she finds solitude to offer her freedom to do whatever she wants.
The second simile—“Louisa sat, prayerfully numbering her days, like an uncloistered nun”—compares Louisa to a nun due to the fact that she is living a life of celibacy and solitude. That she is “prayerfully” reflecting on this nun-like future shows how solitude is an almost spiritual or religious experience for her. Rather than being devoted to God or the church, she is devoted fully to herself.
