nobody else mentioned this, but I wonder if he was gay
between him commenting on the guy as being very handsome and her mentioning that he often looked a bit sad
The way I read it, his sadness is more of a  '' I have a hard time connecting with my much younger wife and her silly attitude'' thing. We know he got quite demeaning towards her later in their marriage, telling her to act her age and all that. I could be getting it completely wrong, obviously.