George Bernard Shaw

“ Aurélie has conciliated her tonight solely because I begged her to do so as we came upstairs. You cannot deny that my wife can be perfectly kind and self-sacrificing whenever there is occasion for it."
"I cannot deny it! Adrian: you speak as though I were in the habit of disparaging her. You are quite wrong. No one can admire her more than I. My only fear is that she is too sweet, and may spoil you. How could I resist her? Even your mother, prejudiced as she certainly was against her, has yielded. You can see by her face that she has given up the battle. ”

“ She is now the wife of a city speculator; and I have gone back to my old profession of musical student, and quite renounced the dignity of past master of the art. I sometimes shudder when I think that I was once within an ace of getting a wife and family."
"And so your heart is dead?"
"No: it is marriage that kills the heart and keeps it dead. Better starve the heart than overfeed it. Better still to feed it only on fine food, like music. Besides, I sometimes think I will marry Mrs Simpson when I grow a little older." ”

“ Heroes and heroines are to be depended on: there is no more chance of their acting prosaically than there is of a picture in the Royal Academy having stains on its linen, or blacks in its sky. But in real life it is just the other way. The incompatibility is not in the world, but in ourselves. Your father is a romantic man; and so am I; but how much of our romance have we ever been able to put into practice?"
"More than you recollect, perhaps," said Madge, unmoved (for constant preoccupation with her own person had made her a bad listener) , "but more than I shall ever forget. ”

“ Magdalen raised her eyelids for an instant, and looked at him. Then she said, "Nothing," and let the lids fall with the cadence of her voice.
"Listen to me," said Jack, after a pause, drawing his seat nearer to her, and watching her keenly. "You want to be romantic. You won't succeed. Look at the way we cling to the stage, to music, and poetry, and so forth. Why do you think we do that? Just because we long to be romantic, and when we try it in real life, facts and duties baffle us at every turn. Men who write plays for you to act, cook up the facts and duties so as to heighten the romance ”

“ You must know that when, after a good many years of poverty and neglect, I found myself a known man, earning over a hundred a year, I felt for a while as if my house was built and I had no more to do than to put it in repair from time to time—much as you think you have mastered the art of acting, and need only learn a new part occasionally to keep your place on the stage. ”

“ We have a very rude habit of getting into a corner by ourselves. I am sure, in spite of all you say, that Mrs Herbert is too fond of you to like it."
"Mrs Herbert is a strange being," said Adrian, rising. "I no longer pretend to understand her likes and dislikes."
Mary made a mental note that Aurélie had probably had more to say on the subject of what she saw in the studio than Adrian had expected. The general conversation which ensued did not run on personal matters. Aurélie was allowed to lead it, as it was tacitly understood that the interest of the occasion in some manner centred in her. ”

“ I must leave that place. I can stand her no longer. Her slovenliness, her stupidity, and her disregard of truth are beyond belief."
"Dear, dear! I am very sorry to hear that, Mr. Jack." Magdalen turned her eyes upon him with an expression of earnest sympathy which had cost her much study to perfect. Jack, who seldom recollected that the subject of Mrs Simpson's failings was not so serious to the rest of the world as to himself, thought Magdalen's concern by no means overstrained, and was about to enlarge on his domestic discomfort, when the servant announced "Mr Brailsford." ”

“ Jack, his attention thus recalled to his guest, checked himself on the verge of a fresh outburst, and pointed to the door. Mrs. Simpson looked at him scornfully, but went out without further ado. Jack then seized a chair by the back, shook its contents on to the floor, and sat down near Charlie.
"I should not have spoken as I did just now," he said, with compunction. "Let me give you a word of advice, Charles. Never live in the house with an untidy woman."
"It must be an awful nuisance, Mr Jack."
"It is sure to lead to bad habits in yourself. How is your sister, and your father?" ”

“ Well, there is an art that is inspired by nothing but a passion for shamming; and that is yours, so far. There is an art which is inspired by a passion for beauty, but only in men who can never associate beauty with a lie. ”

“ Not that they are exactly the manners of good society; but they are perfect of their kind, for all that. Hush! I think—did I not hear Adrian's voice that time?"
Adrian was, in fact, speaking in the hall to Hoskyn, who had just appeared there with Charlie on his way to the drawing room. Aurélie was with her husband. They all went for a moment into the study, which served on Sunday evenings as a cloak room.
"I assure you, Mrs. Herbert," said Hoskyn, officiously helping Aurélie to take off her mantle, "I am exceedingly glad to see you." ”

“ Then, laughing, she continued, "It is rather an odd commission."
"Not at all, not at all," said Aurélie, still serious. "He has great esteem for you, madame—greater than for no matter what person in the world."
Mary opened her lips to say, "Except you"; but somehow she did not dare, Instead, she remarked that perhaps Adrian would accompany his wife to America. The trip, she suggested, would do him good.
"No, no," said Aurélie, quickly. "He does not breathe freely in the artists' room at a concert. He is out of place there. My mother will come with me. ”

“ I look on Adrian as a failure, and I really cannot take an interest in a man who is a failure. His being my son only makes the fact disappointing to me personally. I retain a kind of nursery affection for my boy ”

“ You, with your own little dear one a fresh possession—almost a part of yourself still, doubtless think me very heartless; but you will learn that children have their separate lives and interests as completely independent of their parents as the remotest strangers. ”

“ I am always voyaging; and you also are seldom in London. Besides, when one is an artist one neglects things. Forget, I pray you, my—my—ach! I do not know how to say it. But I will come to you with Monsieur Jean Sczympliça Herbert. That reminds me: I know not your address.
Mrs Herbert supplied the information; and the conversation then proceeded amicably with occasional help from Hoskyn and Charlie. Mary and Adrian had withdrawn to another part of the room, and were engrossed in a discussion. In the course of it Mary remarked that matters were evidently smooth between the two Mrs Herberts. ”

“ Acting in London, where the same play runs for a whole season, leaves one time to think of other things. ' '
"Sundays at home, and fine furniture, for instance."
"Things that they vainly pretend to supply. I have told you that my profession is only half my life —the public half. Now that I have established that firmly, I begin to find that the private and personal half, the half which is concerned with home and—and domestic ties, must be well established too, or else the life remains incomplete, and the heart unsatisfied." ”

“ Herbert thinks it a wise one," said Charlie. "She has often made fun of my attempts at settling myself in the world."
"Yes," said Aurélie, "it is very wise, and quite right. Your instinct tells you so. Good-night and bon voyage, Monsieur Charles."
"My instinct tells me that it is very foolish and quite wrong," he said, taking her proffered hand timidly; "but I see nothing else for it under the circumstances. I don't look forward to enjoying myself. Goodbye." Mary then went downstairs with her guests ”

“ At last he strolled to the drawing-room, where he was found with a book in his hand, pretending to read, by the others when they came upstairs some time after. He did not speak again until he bade farewell to the elder Mrs. Herbert, who departed under Hoskyn's escort. Aurélie, before following her example, went to the nursery with Mary, to have a peep at Master Richard Hoskyn, as he lay in his cot.
"He smiles," said Aurélie. "What a charming infant! The bambino never smiles. He is so triste, like Adrian!" As they turned to leave the room, she added, "Poor Adrian! ”

“ Her at-homes are great fun. Her sisters don't consider it proper for a young unmarried woman to give at-homes on her own hook; and so they never go. I believe they would cut her altogether, only they can't afford to, because she gives them a new dress occasionally. ”

“ When he passed on and mingled with the crowd like any other visitor, she forgot him, and looked round for Jack. But he, in spite of his attempt to avoid Mr Brailsford, had just come face to face with him in a remote corner whither chance had led them both. Jack at once asked him how he did.
"How de do," said the old gentleman with nervous haste. "Glad to—I am sure." Here he found his eyeglass, and was able to distinguish Jack's features.
"Sir," said Jack: "I am an ill-mannered man on occasion ”