| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: infinitely wonderful, and too good to be true.
Here Helen passed them, and seeing Rachel arm-in-arm with a
comparative stranger, looking excited, was amused, but at the same time
slightly irritated. But they were immediately joined by Richard, who had
enjoyed a very interesting talk with Willoughby and was in a sociable mood.
"Observe my Panama," he said, touching the brim of his hat.
"Are you aware, Miss Vinrace, how much can be done to induce fine
weather by appropriate headdress? I have determined that it is a hot
summer day; I warn you that nothing you can say will shake me.
Therefore I am going to sit down. I advise you to follow my example."
Three chairs in a row invited them to be seated.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: between a court and a garden, lavishing money on it with wild
extravagance and putting the best part of her furniture and du Bruel's
into it. Everything that she thought common or ordinary was sold. To
find anything comparable to her sparkling splendor, you could only
look back to the days when Sophie Arnould, a Guimard, or a Duthe, in
all her glory, squandered the fortunes of princes.
"How far did this sumptuous existence affect du Bruel? It is a
delicate question to ask, and a still more delicate one to answer. A
single incident will suffice to give you an idea of Tullia's
crotchets. Her bed-spread of Brussels lace was worth ten thousand
francs. A famous actress had another like it. As soon as Claudine
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