| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: or other, that you were soon to be in London, and immediately contrived to
have such an attack of the gout as must at least delay his journey to Bath,
if not wholly prevent it. I am persuaded the gout is brought on or kept off
at pleasure; it was the same when I wanted to join the Hamiltons to the
Lakes; and three years ago, when I had a fancy for Bath, nothing could
induce him to have a gouty symptom.
I am pleased to find that my letter had so much effect on you, and that
De Courcy is certainly your own. Let me hear from you as soon as you
arrive, and in particular tell me what you mean to do with Mainwaring. It
is impossible to say when I shall be able to come to you; my confinement
must be great. It is such an abominable trick to be ill here instead of at
Lady Susan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: laziness and silence which follows a delicious dinner, especially if
we have presumed too far on our digestive powers. Leaning back in
their chairs, their wrists lightly resting on the edge of the table,
they were indolently playing with the gilded blades of their dessert-
knives. When a dinner comes to this declining moment some guests will
be seen to play with a pear seed; others roll crumbs of bread between
their fingers and thumbs; lovers trace indistinct letters with
fragments of fruit; misers count the stones on their plate and arrange
them as a manager marshals his supernumeraries at the back of the
stage. These are little gastronomic felicities which Brillat-Savarin,
otherwise so complete an author, overlooked in his book. The footmen
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: situation carefully. Just as the only good Indian is a dead
Indian, so the only safe defaulter is a dead defaulter. He
decided to die, to all appearances, and when the hue and cry
subsided, he would be able to enjoy his money almost anywhere he
wished.
The first necessity was an accomplice. The connivance of Doctor
Walker was suggested by his love for Louise. The man was
unscrupulous, and with the girl as a bait, Paul Armstrong soon
had him fast. The plan was apparently the acme of
simplicity: a small town in the west, an attack of heart disease,
a body from a medical college dissecting-room shipped in a trunk
The Circular Staircase |
