“Probably not,” said Grace, in a matter-of-fact way.

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. Page 174.

She may be like that for the time being,” she said. “She may have closed her mind to the possibility right now. But she will think about it and the possibility will work away in her mind. She’ll start to think maybe, just maybe, it’s true. And then the scales will begin to fall from her eyes.”

Isabel thought the situation bleak, but she had to acknowledge that there was something in what Grace had said. “In the meantime she’s not going to forgive me, though.”

“Probably not,” said Grace, in a matter-of-fact way. “Although it might help if you wrote to her and told her how sorry you were. She’ll get round to forgiving you in due course, but it will be easier if you’ve left the door open.”