Resignation

Murder Bound, xviii.

"'He's still at the office,' the agent's wife said in the resigned tone of wives." (p. 157)

For narrative purposes, Poul Anderson need just have written:

"'He's still at the office,' the agent's wife said."

That additional "...in the resigned tone of wives" is very well observed, like Brian Aldiss' "...resigned attitude of workers..." See here.

In fact, the word "resign" is full of meanings. See:

Words And Meanings II, where it is possible to resign by not re-signing;

various other blog references to "resignation." (Scroll down.)

Googling also reveals religious ramifications of resignation, relevant to Poul Anderson's "The Problem of Pain."

"'Maybe you can find a text in Job. I don't know, I tell you, I don't know.'
"The sun lifted higher above the burning horizon."
-Poul Anderson, "The Problem of Pain" IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 103-134 AT p. 134.

I can't get over how good Anderson's History of Technic Civilization is. But now I am resigned to finishing blogging for this evening.