He knelt by the bed and bent over her, draining their last moment to its lees; and in the silence there passed between them the word which made all clear.
Edith WhartonThey belonged to that vast group of human automata who go through life without neglecting to perform a single one of the gestures executed by the surrounding puppets.
Edith WhartonOnly the fact that we are unaware how well our nearest know us enables us to live with them.
Edith WhartonHe had married (as most young men did) because he had met a perfectly charming girl at the moment when a series of rather aimless sentimental adventures were ending in premature disgust; and she had represented peace, stability, comradeship, and the steadying sense of an unescapable duty.
Edith Wharton