Because Edna has "abandoned herself to Fate" (as noted in the Chapter 35), she is not surprised when Robert appears in the garden café, despite its out-of-the-way location. This indifference to circumstances recalls Mademoiselle Reisz's reaction in Chapter 26 to Edna's news that she was moving into her own house: "Nothing ever seemed to astonish her very much." Mademoiselle Reisz has perhaps imparted to Edna some of her knowledge of human nature and the workings of the world. As Edna has become more independent, taking streetcars and walking alone through the city, she has learned that "we women learn so little of life on the whole." By striking out on her own, she has learned much about not only that is new to her, but also how much she never knew — about herself, men like Arobin, and women like Mademoiselle Reisz.
Another parallel between characters in this scene is in Robert's angry accusation that in her pointed questions she is, on an emotional level, asking him to "bare a wound for the pleasure of looking at it, without the intention or power of healing it." This reference recalls the physical scar that Arobin showed Edna, and emphasizes the emotionality of Edna's relationship with Robert as opposed to the physicality of her relationship with Arobin.
Edna has gleaned much from Arobin about initiating and pursuing a physical relationship. In stark contrast with the prudery of her personality at the beginning of the novel, Edna boldly and without warning kisses Robert with a "voluptuous sting," indicating that she has learned to express herself sexually.
