E. Nesbit

“ The ride to Paddock Wood would have been pleasant enough to a man who had not been dropped in the gutter when he was two years old. To Denny it was a martyrdom. Every turn of the road might mask a foot passenger—someone who could walk strongly on his own upstanding equal feet, and who would look curiously at the man who worked a tricycle with his arms, because he had a foot that could not even walk, much less work machines. Behind any bush might lurk a boy, and when you are a cripple you learn to loathe and detest boys. ”

“ He also saw that, having found the nectar of the gods where he had looked for cheap champagne—ambrosia, where he had thought to find the spiced dishes of vulgar gourmets—he must hold fast his prize.
sandra danced to mr moses mosenthal He did not want to be married: no man does. But he wanted her. He wanted the food of the gods, and that food could only be served as a sacrament. To soil the bread and foul the wine were a sin unthinkable. When you have looked for a pig-sty and found a palace, you do not seek to turn what you have found into what you looked for. ”

“ She came along by the towing path, and he knew the moment he saw her that the world was changed. Calamity weighed on her gait, the swing of her clenched hand, the droop of her proud head. He went to meet her along the path, still dewy.
“Where’s your boat?” he said.
“At the lock. I was tired. I thought I should get here quicker walking. Let’s go across the meadow and sit under the trees: shall we?” ”