Contrast the mood of the story in the pair of events: Elizabeth wishes she could accompany Justine to the gallows; Elizabeth writes Victor releasing him from their engagement.

Elizabeth shows complete empathy in Justine's situation because she knows the girl has been wrongly condemned. In Victor's case she's almost throwing in the towel, it's a mood in which she gives up...... lets go. Elizabeth throws in the towel because she has come to understand she is not the priority......