Anne Douglas Sedgwick

“ Bradley, her gentle eyes fixed before her as she drove, “how fond he is of Toppie. It's always been so. He's never thought of anybody else. Even before she and Owen fell in love with each other. I've sometimes wondered—I've sometimes wished—” Mrs. Bradley's voice dropped to a musing uncertainty.
“Giles was much younger than Captain Owen, was he not?” said Alix.
“Not so much younger. He is a year older than Toppie. Twenty-five. But it wasn't that. She would, I'm afraid, never have thought of him, with Owen there. ”

“ I don't think you ought to miss the much prettier dance at Lady Mary's. You have us always, you see, dear.”
“But Giles.”
“Giles doesn't really count at a dance,” smiled Mrs. Bradley. “And he will be at home all the holidays. You won't be missing Giles.”
Toppie was with them, and she smiled, too, looking at Alix and said: “You're right not to go. Giles will be coming home that very Saturday. You couldn't miss his coming home even if you did miss the dance.”
“But she really mustn't miss the week-end at Cresswell Abbey,” said Mrs. Bradley. “It's such a lovely place, I've always heard. ”

“ Owen would have been faithful, always.”
“But all men are not faithful, are they?” Alix commented, keeping her eyes before her and her voice quiet and impersonal. She felt that she would like to know what Mrs. Bradley thought on this subject. Had not Giles's horror been somewhat misplaced? “So many wives, I mean, from what one hears, have unfaithful husbands.”
Mrs. Bradley continued to scan her and with even more alarm.
“But I hope you don't hear of such dreadful things, dear child. No good husband is unfaithful.”
“Is it so very dreadful? Can one govern one's heart? ”

“ Bradley with as much vehemence as she ever displayed on any subject. “And you will, too, I am sure, darling, when you are older and understand what it means to trust someone with your life.—No, no; such a thing would have been impossible with Owen and Toppie. All that I meant was that his love was different in quality from Giles's. Giles's nature, in some ways, is deeper than dear Owen's was.” ”

“ That was what his mother desired for him; that strenuous, rigorous life. Maman did not think of life like that. She wanted no rigours for her child. She didn't care a bit about her being useful. Other people were to be of use to her and she was to enjoy herself. ”