She was depressed by the lengthy separation following the marriage—the Howes' honeymoon in Europe lasted 15 months—and worried that Howe would no longer love her now that he had taken a wife.[25] Bridgman's fears were realized when the couple returned from their honeymoon in August 1844. Howe had lost interest in Bridgman, though he had made provisions for her to have a home at the school for life.[26] Bridgman never developed a close relationship with Julia Ward Howe who, according to her daughters, had a "physical distaste for the abnormal and defective" and a "natural shrinking from the blind and other defectives with whom she was often thrown" following her marriage to Howe.[27] Mary Swift left the school in May, 1845 to get married, leaving Bridgman without any instruction for several months.[28] Bridgman's next teacher, Sarah Wight, compensated for many of the losses Bridgman had suffered in recent years. A gentle, religious, outwardly timid young woman to whom Bridgman was immediately drawn, Wight taught Bridgman the traditional academic subjects — mathematics, history, geography — but she also set aside plenty of time for the two of them to engage in "finger" conversations, one of the activities Bridgman liked best.[29] While Wight cared deeply for Bridgman, she also felt that, because of her "celebrity" status, the girl enjoyed privileges denied to other students.[30] Bridgman had a private room, and she rarely mingled with the other students unless they paid her "particular attention".[31] Wight also saw that Bridgman could be willful and irritable, behavior characteristics that required discipline.[32] Bridgman could also be emotionally demanding of her young teacher, becoming peevish and short-tempered whenever Wight wanted some time alone.[33]