“ The noble buoyancy of her attitude, its suggestion of soaring grace, revealed the touch of poetry in her beauty that Selden always felt in her presence, yet lost the sense of when he was not with her.… Edith Wharton
“ How beautiful it was---and how she loved beauty! She had always felt that her sensibility in this direction made up for certain obtuseness of feeling of which she was less proud. Edith Wharton
“ In the rosy glow it diffused her companions seemed full of amiable qualities. She liked their elegance; their lightness, their lack of emphasis: even the self-assurance which at times was so like obtu… Edith Wharton
“ But he could never be long without trying to find a reason for what she was doing . . . Edith Wharton
“ You asked me just now for the truth---well, the truth about any girl is that once she’s talk about she’s done for; and the more she explains her case the worse it looks. Edith Wharton
“ Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rush of rockets; and from the east a late moon, pushing up beyond the lofty bend of the coast, sent across the bay a shaft of brightness which paled to ash… Edith Wharton
“ Little as she was addicted to solitude, there had come to be moments when it seemed a welcome escape from the empty noises of her life. Edith Wharton
“ Yes - it was happiness she still wanted, and the glimpse she had caught of it made everything else of no account. One by one she had detached herself from the baser possibilities , and she saw that no… Edith Wharton
“ Ah, he would take her beyond---beyond the ugliness, the pettiness, the attrition and corrosion of her soul. Edith Wharton
