How did Ethan feel the morning after spending the evening with Mattie and what contributed to that feeling? Do you think the feeling will last? Why?

Ethan felt happiness and joy: like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

He did not know why he was so irrationally happy, for nothing was changed in his life or hers. He had not even touched the tip of his fingers or looked her full in the eyes. But their evening together had given him a vision of what life at her side might be, and he was glad now that he had done nothing to trouble the sweetness of the picture. He had a fancy that she knew what had restrained him.

This cannot last as long as Zeena is still in the picture.