Anne Douglas Sedgwick

“ She was depressed at the thought of leaving Giles behind in such a damp, crumbling place where it was, indeed, natural to think of philosophers drinking hemlock, and where only in the refuge of one's own room with the wise scout to take care of one, might one find a sense of warmth and cheerfulness. ”

“ CHAPTER IX It was evident to Alix, thinking and thinking of it in the day and night that followed her talk with Giles, that the best way of helping him was not to be there at all. The greater the distance between her and Maman's life and Toppie's life, the safer would Toppie be. She should never, oh, never, have come at all, and Maman would never have let her could she have known that Captain Owen had kept that inculpating silence. But she could not tell Maman of that now. If Toppie must not be hurt, neither must Maman. ”

“ She had never seen so many bicycles, and from under a dripping umbrella, after one had dodged them, she found the Gothic quadrangles and deep emerald gardens, the meditative swans gliding, at Worcester, on the water, and the mist-washed vistas of the High, all triste. ”

“ Alix ventured it. It was all so remote.
Giles felt it so. He elucidated the financial differences of the family. “We've all got a little. He went into the city, into stock-broking, and was making a very good thing of it. He could very well afford to marry.”
“And do you not care for stock-broking?”
“No; I care for philosophy. Unlucky for my wife, isn't it, Alix?”
“I do not know. Perhaps not if she had taste. One can do so much with very little money if one has taste. But would they know—the others—if she had to live in Oxford, that her hats and dresses were different?” ”