Amber

“ The animals of creation were keeping watch; the earth, in adoration, seemed to offer incense to the sky, and the amber exhaled from its bosom fell back upon it in the form of dew, as prayers fall back upon those who pray. ”

“ Out of doors the skies were hot and blue—white with forerunners of the sun, and the world of men was stirring and making preparation against the business of the day; but Amber, who had a work so serious and so instant to his hand, sat on in dreamy lethargy, musing....
The faces of two women stood out vividly against the misty formless void before his eyes: the face of Naraini and that of Sophia Farrell. ”

“ From that moment amber was a third colour, much in request with the (Roman) ladies. Amber, however, is found to be of some value in medicine; but that is not the reason why women are fond of it. Worn as an amulet by children, amber is advantageous. According to Callistratus, whether taken in a drink or worn as an amulet, amber at all ages is medicinal in cases of madness and dysuria. ”

“ Judge Camden was deeply moved when he heard the story of Mrs. Grant’s attendance at Amber’s death-bed. He realized that she was not the proud, heartless woman he had imagined, and thanked her, in a brief, grateful note, for her friendship for his dead granddaughter. She replied by telling how Amber had saved Bonnycastle, and then he understood everything—how terribly the girl had fought for victory in all her aims. He always tried to believe that Amber had made some terrible mistake when she placed the arsenic in his glass. ”

“ In a moment the girl looked up and saw me in my amber suit and ruffle, my rapier and cap, standing there against the black framing of the maze; and then she did as I had done—stared, and rubbed her eyes, and stared again! In a moment she seemed to understand I was something more than a fancy, whereat, with a little scream of fear, she sprang to her feet, and, crossing the kerchief closer on her bosom, pulled down her sleeves and backed off toward the almond-tree. ”

“ Some day I shall complete the walk and write up the finish.
Said some one to me the other day: "Amber, you have lots of good friends among the girls." "Good," said I; "then I am all right." Anybody who gains the friendly approval of the right sort of girls has a passport right through to glory! I mean it. There is nothing on earth I love better than a good, sweet girl. I would rather watch a crowd of them any day than all the pictures Fra Angelica ever painted of saints in paradise. But there are girls and girls. ”

“ I dare say Osborn would prefer me to send them to the cleaner's, anyway."
"People live more extravagantly now," said Mrs. Amber. "I should have done them at home."
"Things change."
Mrs. Amber thought. "In marriage," she stated presently, "someone has to make sacrifices."
"Why should it be the woman?"
"Because the woman," answered Mrs. Amber quoting someone she had once heard, "is naturally selected for it."
"Mother," said Marie, "don't be tiresome."
Mrs. Amber went away reluctantly at three o'clock. She was a wise woman, and did not want to appear ubiquitous. ”

“ He straightened up with sudden strength, and caught her words with a kind of joyful triumph.
“Yes, there is some one else! Mary! Mary Amber!”
Mary Amber, trying not to hear, had caught her name, heard the sound in his voice like to the little chick that calls its mother when the hawk appears; and suddenly her fear vanished. She turned, and walked with steady step and bright eyes straight into the spare bedroom, a smile upon her lips and a [170] rose upon her cheek that needed no cosmetics to enhance its beauty. ”

“ The mountain at a given distance
In amber lies;
Approached, the amber flits a little, —
And that 's the skies! ”

“ Now "Heaven-born" is flattery properly reserved for those who sit in high places. Amber turned and eyed the man curiously, at the same time dropping into the filthy, importunate palm a few annas.
"May the shadow of the Heaven-born be long upon the land, when he shall have passed through the Gateway of Swords!"
And like a flash the man was gone—dodging nimbly round the ghari and across Old Court House Street, losing himself almost instantly in the press of early evening traffic. ”

“ We walked on out of the garden, going more slowly the nearer we came to the gate; and then we were some time in her stepfather's porch before she rang the bell.
I walked back to my house in a quit contented frame of mind. Amber's fright had forced my hand and settled things for us. It had, for the time being, put the ghost trick out of my mind. In spite of the fact that I had spent the night before traveling across Europe, I was a long while getting to sleep. I had to think about Amber. ”

“ She [17] hoped Mary Amber had not looked out of the window. A boy was coming on a bicycle; and, if he should be a boy with a telegram or a special-delivery letter, she wanted to read it before Mary Amber saw her. Oh, how awful if anything had happened that he couldn’t come to-day! Of course, he might come later to-night, or to-morrow; and a turkey would keep, though it was never so good as the minute it was taken out of the oven. ”

“ When the doctor was gone, Mary Amber and Miss Marilla stood one on each side of the bed, and looked at each other, making silent covenant together over the sick soldier.
“Now,” said Mary Amber softly, “I’m going down into the kitchen to look after things. You just sit here and watch him. I’ll run over first to put the car away and tell mother I’ll stay with you to-night.”
“O Mary Amber, you mustn’t do that,” said Miss Marilla anxiously. “I never meant to get you into all this scrape. Your mother won’t like it at all. I’ll get along all right ”

“ Mary Amber shrank from exposing her dear friend to the criticisms of such of the readers of The Springhaven Chronicle as had memories of their cats tortured, their chickens chased, their flower-beds trampled, their children bullied, and their windows broken by the youthful Dick.
But time had softened the memories of that fateful summer in Miss Marilla’s mind, and, besides, she was sorely in [9] need of a hero. Mary Amber had not the heart to refuse to write the paragraph, but she made it as conservative as the circumstances allowed. ”

“ Family tradition and genealogical history, upon which much of Sir Everard's discourse turned, is the very reverse of amber, which, itself a valuable substance, usually includes flies, straws, and other trifles; whereas these studies, being themselves very insignificant and trifling, do nevertheless serve to perpetuate a great deal of what is rare and valuable in ancient manners, and to record many curious and minute facts which could have been preserved and conveyed through no other medium. ”

“ Amber, or Julie de Fontanges, as we must now call her, quitted the abode of her kind protector, in such distress, that it was evident she regretted the discovery which had been made. She was too young to be aware of the advantages of high birth, and her removal was for some time a source of unfeigned regret. It appeared to her that nothing could compensate for the separation from her supposed father, who doated on her, from Mrs Forster, who had watched over her, from Nicholas, who amused her, and from Newton, whom she loved as a brother. ”

“ No cowardly retreat into furry overcoats, mittens and gum shoes.
"Amber," said a fellow traveler the other day, "yonder is a man after your own heart. He has not worn an overcoat or heavyweight flannels for six years. He never buttons up his coat save when it rains. What do you think of him?"
"Think of him!" said I; "were it not for a lingering regard for the conventionalities, I should walk right over to that man and say: 'Sir, I thank you for the sight of a man—not a human lily bud! ”

“ FOREVER AMBER. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., c1947. 140 min., sd., color, 35mm. From the novel by Kathleen Winsor.
Summary: Tragedy is the lot of Amber, an adventuress of the English Restoration 125period, because of a love that lasts forever. The drama is presented against a background of court pageantry and stirring events.
Credits: Producer, William Perlberg; director, Otto Preminger; screenplay, Philip Dunne, Ring Lardner, Jr.; adaptation, Jerome Cady; music director, Alfred Newman.
Cast: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan. ”

“ Ambre blanc. White Amber; one kind therof (thrown by the floating sea on the Pruthian shore) which being giuen to drinke, in wine, vnto a fasting wench, will force her to pisse, if she haue lost her maidenhead. Ambre crud. Raw Amber; Amber as it growes, or as it is, before it be prepared, polished, and made transparent (by the fat of a sucking Pig.) Ambre gris. Ambergreece, or gray Amber; (the best kind of Amber) vsed in perfumes. Ambre noir. Blacke Amber (the worst kind of Amber) vsually mingled with Aloes, Labdanum, Storax, and such like aromaticall simples, for Pomander chains, &c. ”

“ Amberley comes in—Amberley to whom it is given to labour heavily at the tillage of our brains, and whom we look upon as a sedate and amiable old cow, who never kicks up her heels or does anything unexpected, but gives down knowledge in any quantity or quality whenever we choose to apply for it. She is a queer creature, Amberley. ”

“ In this treatise St. Ambrose shows that the Holy Spirit is God, and of one nature and substance with the Father and the Son. He makes use of the Greek writers, SS. Didymus, Basil the Great, and Athanasius, and was on this ground attacked by St. Jerome. See Rufinus, Apol. adv. Hieron. II. 23–25.
3. De Incarnationis Dominicæ Sacramento. The book on the Mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation owed its origin to a challenge to dispute publicly given to St. Ambrose by two Arian chamberlains of Gratian. On the day appointed they were, as Paulinus relates in his life of St. ”

“ It was a bright sunshiny morning when Nigel found himself at last able to leave his turret chamber and to walk upon the rampart of the castle. There was a brisk northern wind, heavy and wet with the salt of the sea, and he felt, as he turned his face to it, fresh life and strength surging in his blood and bracing his limbs. He took his hand from Aylward’s supporting arm and stood with his cap off, leaning on the rampart and breathing in the cool strong air. Far off upon the distant sky-line, half hidden by the heave of the waves, was the low white fringe of cliffs which skirted England. ”

“ Father Ambrose, as usual, was the first. He turned her round, placed her on her belly, and directing her to extend her plump white buttocks as far back as possible, he stood for a moment contemplating the delicious prospect and the small and delicate slit which was just visible below. His weapon, redoubtable as well provided with nature's essence, rose fiercely and menaced either entry into love's delightful shades. ”

“ She having once become your wife will reveal to you all her secrets; she will also tell you how she manages to keep alive so long, and by what ways and means she may be got rid of." Ambrose followed her instructions and was married to the old witch by a clergyman—there are clergy even in hell, as many as you want. The first night Ambrose, after having for a long time been kissing and making love to the old iron nose, asked her: "What keeps you alive for so long, and when do you think you will die? ”

“ My emotions were indescribable, but I preserved as sedate an appearance as possible, and was able to account for my return in a natural enough way to Ambrose when he opened the door for me. To brave his possible curiosity by going up-stairs, required a still greater effort; but the thought that my intentions were pure and my daring legitimate, sustained me in the ordeal, and I ran, singing, up the first flight, glad that Ambrose had no better ear for music than to be pleased with what he probably considered an evidence of happiness on the part of his young mistress. ”

“ Noe knight, sirs, of England, nor captaine you see, But a poor simple mayden called Mary Ambree.’
‘But art thou a woman, as thou dost declare, Whose valor hath proved so undaunted in warre? If England doth yield such brave maydens as thee, Full well may they conquer, faire Mary Ambree.’
The Prince of Great Parma heard of her renowne, Who long had advanced for England’s fair crowne; Hee wooed her and sued her his mistress to bee, And offered rich presents to Mary Ambree. ”

“ He inspired me with the purest, the most irreproachable passion, and was on the point of becoming my lawful husband. An horrible adventure, and the treachery of a Relation, separated us from each other: I believed him for ever lost to me, and threw myself into a Convent from motives of despair. Accident again united us; I could not refuse myself the melancholy pleasure of mingling my tears with his: We met nightly in the Gardens of St. Clare, and in an unguarded moment I violated my vows of Chastity. I shall soon become a Mother: Reverend Ambrosio, take compassion on me ”

“ Now in Latin Shem signifies a ‘name.’ And truly is this Ambrose of ours a good name, in whose tents Japhet may be enlarged, Prov. xxii. 1. because a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. Let him therefore also be blessed, let his name be above gold and silver, let the seed of Abraham be in his portion, let all his blessing rest on his posterity, and on the whole family of the just man. But no one is cursed, all are blessed, for blessed is the fruit of Sarah. ”

“ All the sisters, charmed with seeing and hearing you, would think of nothing but practicing your rules and directions. The young nun had never formed so criminal a design as that of breaking her vows, had you been at our head to exhort us to live holily. If your eyes were witnesses of our actions, they would be innocent. When we slipt, you would lift us up, and establish us by your counsels; we should march with sure steps in the rough paths of virtue. I begin to perceive; Abelard, that I take too much pleasure in writing to you. ”