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You suggest that Irene rushed across the room in a rage, but the text says: "She ran across the room, her terror tinged with ferocity". That sounds more scared than raging ("tinged" generally referring to a slight shade or minute amount). But a cornered animal will often act ferociously, so I am not arguing that fear (as opposed to rage) excludes the possibility of her pushing Clare.
The whole "poor me, what will people think?" thing is so obviously (too obviously, it seems to me) intended to make the reader believe she did it, that I think - as you phrased it earlier - the lady doth protest too much. That was the impression I got when I first read it, and I still see it as a viable interpretation (but quite accept it is not the only possible interpretation).
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