Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson

“ As a countess of the old nobility, my daughter's position will be assured not only in New York and Newport, but at every court in Europe.” And when I see the charm and distinction of the people who now surround Nancy——”
“Oh, madame!” smilingly protested the marquise.
But Mrs. Baxter proceeded earnestly:
“I say that it is no wonder our American girls have ambition for themselves, or that their mothers have the fine feeling for them that they do—no wonder that they marry abroad into something higher and better than they can get at home! ”

“ Not what we mean by a scandal. It's not a scandal to them for a husband to be a man of 'gallantry,' but it is a scandal for his wife to refuse to bear the common lot of wives—of their wives. So they taught me that, even in the shock of discovering my husband's gallantry, I must make no outcry that could he heard. They taught me that rule pretty thoroughly, you see, and I've borne the common lot pretty thoroughly, too. Victor's most permanent fancy has lasted now more than a year.”
Mrs, Baxter made a gesture of protest, as if not wishing to listen ”

“ What if that same Lavater should quote the old saying about scratching the Tartar and finding the Russian underneath? Externals are, after all, what count chiefly in this world, especially in the social sphere.
“Now, please do tell me something about the two guests you have with you,” Mrs. Baxter was saying beamingly.
“One,” said the prince in graceful compliance, “is—what you call?—your daughter's bosom friend, Renée De Montfort, a charming woman who loves your daughter.” ”

“ Baxter in gleeful maternal pride. Then she added more gravely: “Really, there doesn't seem to be any flaw in Nancy's existence, does there?”
The prince was silent for a moment.
“Nothing—nothing that is serious,” he said, at last, still smiling his inscrutable smile. “Or perhaps one little——” He shrugged his shoulders slightly, but expressively. “But it is merely—the young married woman must always find some tiny annoyance. As she grows older, she sees it is nothing, nothing at all; and as time passes she learns it is to be taken with a smile. ”

“ Her hair was of the darkest brown, almost black, save when the sunshine glinting upon it gave it a coppery tint. Perhaps her greatest beauty, however, was her eyes, which were of a deep purple color, shaded by long, curling lashes. They were inscrutable eyes, too, ever changing with the dominant emotion. ”

“ Nancy said nothing. She realized that it would be futile to persist. She must stand alone in whatever course she should decide to pursue. With a long sigh, that went at least to her father's heart, she turned slowly and passed into the château. ”

“ Nancy's child could not speak English! The idea was very disturbing. Then, Nancy had not come and her husband did not seem to miss her in the least. That was disturbing, too. Of course, he wasn't finding fault. Business is the man's side of the house; the other side is the woman's, especially if the child is a daughter. Mrs. Baxter had always—that is, he had always let her handle that. ”

“ Some trifles are a little more difficult for a young girl who has been brought up in the American fashion to understand, but she will learn, and she will acquit herself very well. Perhaps just now she imagines a little—she imagines. ”

“ I congratulate myself a thousand times that I had the foresight to provide this happiness for my daughter!”
At this juncture, the duchesse, apparently tired of the English-speaking company, disappeared into the château, dutifully attended by her son.
Mr. Baxter's voice rose from the little group composed of himself, the prince, and Albert De Raimbault, who had just joined the other two.
“Well, they can't say they don't have good-looking women in this country,” he declared, casting a fleeting glance at Renée De Montfort. “Yes, sir. Some regular eye-openers! ”