Wharton, Edith — The Age of Innocence [582]

Since she would not or could not say the one word that would have cleared the air, his wish was not to let her feel that he was trying to probe into her secret. Better keep on the surface, in the prudent old New York way, than risk uncovering a wound he could not heal. — Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence, 582

Note

Here the code becomes self-aware in Archer’s mouth: keeping ‘on the surface’ is openly named as the prudent New York way, chosen precisely to avoid knowledge. The system’s avoidance of the unpleasant is articulated by its own agent.