Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this poem. Read this line from "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter," which describes the speaker and her husband when they were children. Two small people, without dislike or suspicion. How does this line and the previous lines' descriptions of the speaker and her husband playing near each other develop the idea that time and maturity can allow love to develop between two people? They indicate that it would be better not to grow up, but to remain a child at heart always. They suggest that, as children, the speaker and her future husband had no strong feelings for each other. They indicate that, in that time and place, boys and girls played together as equals. They suggest that people should be suspicious of everyone they meet, even as children, for everyone has a negative side.