Why does Joyce have Molly think of Mr Stanhope? Because the reader has learned that "fathers friend Mrs Stanhope sent [Molly that lovely frock] from the B Marche paris." Plainly, Major Tweedy had been doing to the Mrs what Boylan willl have done to Molly come this day in her marriage: before she accepted Bloom’s marriage proposal she thought of the cuckold, Mr Stanhope.
