"It was the language of the house itself that spoke to him, writing out for him, with surpassing breadth and freedom, the associations and conceptions, the ideals and possibilities of the mistress. Never, he flattered himself, had he seen anything so gregariously ugly - operatively, ominously so cruel."
Book Second, Chap. 2, p. 85-86

"Less than a month after the event that had so determined Mrs. Stringham's attitude - close upon the heels, that is, of her return from New York - she was reached by a proposal that brought up for her the kind of question her delicacy might have to content with. Would she start for Europe with her young friend at the earliest possible date, and should she be willing to do so without making conditions?"
Book Third, Chap. 1, p. 110

"They were already dining, she and her friend, at Lancaster Gate, and surrounded, as it seemed...