| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde: flattered at the pleasant way in which everything has turned out
for him. Let us sit down. [They sit down.] And how is your
beautiful embroidery going on?
MRS. ARBUTHNOT. I am always at work, Lady Hunstanton.
LADY HUNSTANTON. Mrs. Daubeny embroiders a little, too, doesn't
she?
THE ARCHDEACON. She was very deft with her needle once, quite a
Dorcas. But the gout has crippled her fingers a good deal. She
has not touched the tambour frame for nine or ten years. But she
has many other amusements. She is very much interested in her own
health.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: "The time has come for telling a story, which should modify your
judgment as to Ernest de Restaud's prospects."
"A story?" cried Camille. "Do begin at once, monsieur."
The glance that Derville gave the Vicomtesse told her that this tale
was meant for her. The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, be it said, was one of
the greatest ladies in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, by reason of her
fortune and her ancient name; and though it may seem improbable that a
Paris attorney should speak so familiarly to her, or be so much at
home in her house, the fact is nevertheless easily explained.
When Mme. de Grandlieu returned to France with the Royal family, she
came to Paris, and at first lived entirely on the pension allowed her
Gobseck |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: herself for ever to the contempt of the whole world, and the severest
resentment of her injured mother.
Your affectionate
S. VERNON.
XXIII
MRS. VERNON TO LADY DE COURCY
Churchhill.
Let me congratulate you, my dearest Mother! The affair which has given
us so much anxiety is drawing to a happy conclusion. Our prospect is most
delightful, and since matters have now taken so favourable a turn, I am
quite sorry that I ever imparted my apprehensions to you; for the pleasure
Lady Susan |
