Yes, Gilbert and Easton's quarrel would be a perfect hurt/comfort opportunity! There are glimmers... and then the text just wanders off in another direction.

And yes, I think the hints at Rachel/Gilbert are a sop thrown to convention. It's interesting because the text itself contains far more hints at Rachel/Easton - the fact that people keep noting how similar/well-suited they are, as well as Rachel's canonical crush on Easton - and an ending that hinted at future Rachel/Easton and Mrs. Farrell/Gilbert would be more plausible... He had that plausibility in his grasp and just decided not to go there.