“What could he be thinking of? He seemed to be trying to remember something, perhaps an engagement, perhaps an excuse to leave her. For eventually, they all made some excuse.”
Judy as a spinster at her age is very self-conscious and insecure about herself hence the overindulgence in alcoholism and her delusions. However, her insecurities still show up through her inner monologues despite her attempts to dwell in her fantasies. Since she longs for a long-term company and love she therefore develops abandonment issues with the men she engages with. Thus the quotation is a manifestation of her insecurities due to past experiences with other men.
“For it was important to have things to tell which interested your friends. And Miss Hearne had always been able to find interesting happenings where other people would find only dullness.”
Due to her lonely and depressed life, Judy becomes desperate to seek interesting things to set herself apart. Since she has been incapable to blend into society through adopting conformity and companionship, she has to be imaginative. The energy that would otherwise be placed on love and starting a family she directs it to her delusions, addictions, and imaginations. Despite most of her vices being self-destructive she possesses a side of her that is much more creative than the rest. Thus, the statement expresses her inclination towards finding an interesting side of herself that her unique situation has fostered.
