| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: "I did it in self-defence, lad."
"What was I doing?"
"You tried to kiss me."
I glanced round. The coachman had begun to undress again, and it
was very dark.
"That was a long time ago," I said wistfully.
"Once bitten, twice shy," she said.
As I kissed her, the light went up in the hall.
"Put not your faith in proverbs," said I.
Dr. Fletcher opened the door.
"Hullo," said the worthy leech.
The Brother of Daphne |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: "It's your interpretation, not mine," Mrs. Van Tyle answered with
perfect good humor. "Of course you couldn't want to marry him
under any circumstances. His station in life--his anarchistic
ideas--his reputation as a confirmed libertine--all of them make
the thought of such a thing impossible."
Miss Frome's mind seized on only one of the charges. "I don't
believe it. I don't believe a word of it. Anybody can throw
mud--and some of it is bound to stick. He's a good man. You can
see that in his face."
"You can perhaps. I can't." Valencia studied her beneath a droop
of eyelids behind which she was very alert. "Those things aren't
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