the capacity of the human brain for surprise, like that of the human body for pain, is limited. for a single instant a sense of utter unreality struck john like a physical blow. the world flickered before his eyes and the air seemed full of strange noises. then, quite suddenly, these things passed, and he found himself looking at her with a total absence of astonishment, mildly amused in some remote corner of his brain at his own calm. it was absurd, he told himself, that he should be feeling as if he had known of her presence there all the time. yet it was so. if this were a dream, he could not be taking the miracle more as a matter of course. joy at the sight of her he felt, keen and almost painful, but no surprise. the shock had stunned his sense of wonder.