[House of Mirth by Edith Wharton]@TWC D-Link bookHouse of Mirth CHAPTER 4 15/26
But he's horribly shy, and easily shocked, and--and----" "Why don't you say it, Judy? I have the reputation of being on the hunt for a rich husband ?" "Oh, I don't mean that; he wouldn't believe it of you--at first," said Mrs.Trenor, with candid shrewdness.
"But you know things are rather lively here at times--I must give Jack and Gus a hint--and if he thought you were what his mother would call fast--oh, well, you know what I mean. Don't wear your scarlet CREPE-DE-CHINE for dinner, and don't smoke if you can help it, Lily dear!" Lily pushed aside her finished work with a dry smile.
"You're very kind, Judy: I'll lock up my cigarettes and wear that last year's dress you sent me this morning.
And if you are really interested in my career, perhaps you'll be kind enough not to ask me to play bridge again this evening." "Bridge? Does he mind bridge, too? Oh, Lily, what an awful life you'll lead! But of course I won't--why didn't you give me a hint last night? There's nothing I wouldn't do, you poor duck, to see you happy!" And Mrs.Trenor, glowing with her sex's eagerness to smooth the course of true love, enveloped Lily in a long embrace. "You're quite sure," she added solicitously, as the latter extricated herself, "that you wouldn't like me to telephone for Lawrence Selden ?" "Quite sure," said Lily. The next three days demonstrated to her own complete satisfaction Miss Bart's ability to manage her affairs without extraneous aid. As she sat, on the Saturday afternoon, on the terrace at Bellomont, she smiled at Mrs.Trenor's fear that she might go too fast.
If such a warning had ever been needful, the years had taught her a salutary lesson, and she flattered herself that she now knew how to adapt her pace to the object of pursuit.
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