Archer was too intelligent to think that a young woman like Ellen Olenska would necessarily recoil from everything that reminded her of her past. She might believe herself wholly in revolt against it; but what had charmed her in it would still charm her even though it were against her will.

I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.

She was not accustomed to taste the joys of solitude except in company.

People struggled on for years with 'troubles,' but they almost always succumbed to 'complications.

The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.

It was amusement enough to be with a group of fearless and talkative girls, who said new things in a new language, who were ignorant of tradition and unimpressed by distinctions of rank; but it was soon clear that their young hostesses must be treated with the same respect, if not with the same ceremony as English girls of good family.

To know when to be generous and when firm—that is wisdom.