| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from In the Cage by Henry James: counting, Mrs. Jordan had just blown, in explanation, through her
teeth and through the bars of the cage: "I DO flowers, you know."
Our young woman had always, with her little finger crooked out, a
pretty movement for counting; and she had not forgotten the small
secret advantage, a sharpness of triumph it might even have been
called, that fell upon her at this moment and avenged her for the
incoherence of the message, an unintelligible enumeration of
numbers, colours, days, hours. The correspondence of people she
didn't know was one thing; but the correspondence of people she did
had an aspect of its own for her even when she couldn't understand
it. The speech in which Mrs. Jordan had defined a position and
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: solemn pause then ensued, until Lady Forester gathered courage
enough to reply to the physician, as he termed himself, that she
would abide with firmness and silence the sight which he had
promised to exhibit to them. Upon this, he made them a low
obeisance, and saying he went to prepare matters to meet their
wish, left the apartment. The two sisters, hand in hand, as if
seeking by that close union to divert any danger which might
threaten them, sat down on two seats in immediate contact with
each other--Jemima seeking support in the manly and habitual
courage of Lady Bothwell; and she, on the other hand, more
agitated than she had expected, endeavouring to fortify herself
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: know."
On those last words of mine she gave me quite an extraordinary look, and
then, as if satisfied with what she saw in my face.--
"They don't talk to me."
It was an assurance, it was true, it had the ring of truth, that evident
genuineness which a piece of real confidence always possesses; she meant
me to know that we were in the same boat of ignorance to-day. And yet, as
I rose from my lunch and came forward to settle for it, I was aware of
some sense of defeat, of having been held off just as the ladies on High
Walk had held me off.
"Well," I sighed, "I pin my faith to the aunt who says he'll never marry
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