Henry Handel Richardson

“ Red-nosed, red-eared men, on whose beards and moustaches the breath had turned to ice-drops, cried to one another at street-corners that such a winter had not been known for thirty years; and, as they spoke, they stamped their feet, and clapped their hands, to keep the chilly blood agoing. Women muffled and veiled themselves like Orientals, hardly showing the tips of their noses ”

“ Even Dove joined in, his partner being a very pretty American, whom Miss Martin had brought with her, and whose side Dove had not left for a moment. Only Madeleine and Dickensey sat aloof, and for once were agreed: Americans were really “very bad form.” There was no livelier pair than Maurice and Miss Martin; the latter’s voice could be heard above all others, as she taught Maurice new steps in a corner of the room. ”

“ Her skirts clung close in front, and swept out behind her lithe figure, until it was lost in the crowd.
“Don’t you wish YOU could skate like that?” asked the sharp-tongued little student, called Dickensey, who was standing beside Madeleine. Madeleine, who held him in contempt because his trousers were baggy at the knees, and because he had once appeared at a ball in white cotton gloves, answered with asperity that there were other things in life besides skating. She had no further chance of speaking to Maurice in private, so postponed telling her news till the following evening. ”

“ They skated round the larger of the ponds several times without stopping. The cold evening air stung their faces; the sun had gone down in a lurid haze; Madeleine’s skirts swayed behind her and lent her a fictitious grace.
But presently she cried a halt, and while she rested in a quiet corner, they watched Maurice doing a complicated figure, which he and his Canadian friend had invented the day before. Dove was explaining how it was done—“It is really not so hard as it looks”—when, with a cry of “ACHTUNG!” ”

“ Anyways there ain’t more than two Americans in the city I don’t know. An’ I see most all strangers that come. Say, are you acquainted with Miss Moses? She’s from Chicago, an’ resides in a boarding-house way down by the COLONNADEN. I got acquainted with her yesterday. She’s a lovely lady, an’, why, she’s just as smart as she can be. Say, if you like, I’ll invite her along, so you can get acquainted with her too.”
Maurice expressed pleasure at the prospect; and Miss Martin continued to rattle on, with easy frankness, of herself, her family, and her friends. ”

“ And this with a steadily increasing frequency. Instead of continuing thankful for the respite, he ultimately grew uneasy under it. Am I a person of this weak, straw-like consistency, to be tossed about by every wind that blows? Is there something beneath it all that I cannot fathom?
He had not seen Louise since the night he had left her alseep, beside the sofa ”