afterwards , she could not articulate what it was about this brief scene that she had found comforting - whether it was the sea itself , her ability to carve out twenty minutes ' freedom unnoticed , or the small suggestion of humanity contained in the captain 's limp , a reminder of men 's fallibility , their capacity to conceal their hurt , to suffer - but as she came back down the stairs she had found herself somehow less conscious of the glances of those who passed , with a little of her confidence restored to her .