A letter unanswered

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

For a week, Lucy had kept the letter beneath her sewing box. Each evening she drew it out, reread the final paragraph and returned it to the same place. On Saturday she laid fresh paper beside the lamp. The pen rested between her fingers, but no words came. The blank page offered her none of the protection that silence had provided. She put the cap back on the ink bottle.

Identify the phrase which suggests that Lucy feels safer avoiding a reply.