We can interpret the line belonging to "A New England Nun" that says "he was afraid of betraying himself as she" in the following manner:
E. Both Louisa and Joe hesitated to express their true desires.
Louisa and Joe are characters in the short story "A New England Nun," by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman. Louisa and Joe made a promise the marry each other 14 years ago.
Now that Joe is back, it is time for them to keep their promise and finally get married. However, both of them have changed.
Louisa is very set in her ways. She is clean and organized, and she really enjoys the life she has built for herself. Joe'sreturn is a disruption to her.
Joe, on the other hand, has fallen in love with another woman, Lily. He is only marrying Louisa because of their promise.
The line "he was afraid of betraying himself as she" indicates that they were both betraying their feelings by not expressing their true desires.
Now that Louisa has opened up to end things with Joe, he too realizes it is best to be honest and let her go.
With that in mind, we can choose letter E as the best option.
