| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: Michael, and from something in her prim yet charming manner I gathered
that she held it to be not perfectly well-bred in a lady to greet a
gentleman across the width of a public highway, and that she could have
wished that her tall companion had not thus greeted me, a stranger likely
to comment upon Kings Port manners. In her eyes, such free deportment
evidently went with her tall companion's method of speech: hadn't the
little lady informed me during our first brief meeting that Kings Port at
times thought Mrs. Gregory St. Michael's tongue "too downright"?
The two ladies having graciously granted me permission to join them while
they took the air, Mrs. Gregory must surely have shocked Mrs. Weguelin by
saying to me, "I haven't a penny for your thoughts, but I'll exchange."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: "Yes, to be sure. The Comte de Montriveau died at St.
Petersburg," said the Vidame. "I met him there. He was a big
man with an incredible passion for oysters."
"However many did he eat?" asked the Duc de Grandlieu.
"Ten dozen every day."
"And did they not disagree with him?"
"Not the least bit in the world."
"Why, that is extraordinary! Had he neither the stone nor gout,
nor any other complaint, in consequence?"
"No; his health was perfectly good, and he died through an
accident."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: landed them they're back in the deep sea!"
Morgan's comments in these days were more and more free; they even
included a large recognition of the extraordinary tenderness with
which he had been treated while Pemberton was away. Oh yes, they
couldn't do enough to be nice to him, to show him they had him on
their mind and make up for his loss. That was just what made the
whole thing so sad and caused him to rejoice after all in
Pemberton's return - he had to keep thinking of their affection
less, had less sense of obligation. Pemberton laughed out at this
last reason, and Morgan blushed and said: "Well, dash it, you know
what I mean." Pemberton knew perfectly what he meant; but there
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