the veil, for the first time, considered coming off
No matter if Don Gately takes Demerol or goes to jail or rejects her if she can't show him the face. It's the first time in a long time—tonight, 11/14—Joelle's even considered possibly showing somebody the face.
Context
What the stranger's story unlocks in Joelle is stated as a communicative act: for the first time she imagines letting someone actually see her, the veil coming down toward one particular person. The whole book's problem is people sealed inside themselves; the resolution the meeting produces is not a feeling but a decision to be seen, dated to the night — the willingness to show the face as the exact opposite motion from hiding it. [sweep · shared-ground disability-deformity]