Edith Wharton

“ His sallow face had reddened with excitement, and Odo's forehead reflected the flush. Was it possible--? But the thought set him tingling with disgust.
"Why, you say little," he cried lightly, "at the rate at which I value my life."
Alfieri turned on him. "If your life is worthless; make it worth something!" he exclaimed. "I offer you the opportunity tonight."
"What opportunity?"
"The sight of a face that men have laid down their lives to see."
Odo laughed and buckled on his sword. "If you answer for the risk, I agree to take it," said he. ”

“ Cantapresto had in fact just entered with a cup of this beverage, and Alfieri, who stood at his friend's bedside with unpowdered locks and a fashionable undress of Parisian cut, snatching the tray from the soprano's hands presented it to Odo in an attitude of mock servility.
The young man sprang up laughing. It was the fashion to applaud Parini's verse in the circles at which his satire was aimed, and none recited his mock heroics with greater zest than the young gentlemen whose fopperies he ridiculed. Odo's toilet was indeed a rite almost as elaborate as that of Parini's hero ”

“ If, for instance, the Countess Clarice di Tournanches, whose high-coloured image reflected itself so complacently in her Venetian toilet-glass, could have known that the Cavaliere Odo Valsecca's devoted glance saw her through the medium of a countenance compared to which her own revealed the most unexpected shortcomings, she might have received him with less airy petulance of manner. ”

“ If the ladies whom gallant gentlemen delight to serve could guess what secret touchstones of worth these same gentlemen sometimes carry into the adored presence, many a handsome head would be carried with less assurance, and many a fond exaction less confidently imposed. ”