True, thanks to her enslavement by society.' 'I care nothing for society,' Alma interposed.
'Good! I like the sound of that defiance; it has the right ring.

A man hasn't often the pleasure of hearing that from a woman he can respect.
It's easy, of course, to defy the laws of a world one doesn't belong to; but you, who are a queen in your circle, and may throne, at any moment, in a wider sphere--it means much when you refuse to bow down before the vulgar idols, to be fettered by superstitions.' His aim was dark to her, but she tasted the compliment which ignored her social eclipse.

Redgrave's conversation generally kept on the prosaic levels--studiously polite, or suavely cynical.

It was a new experience to see him borne on a wave of rhetoric; yet not borne away, for he spoke with an ease, a self-command, which to older ears would have suggested skill rather than feeling.

He had nothing of the ardour of youth; his poise and deliberation were quite in keeping with the two score years that subtly graved his visage; the passions in him were sportive, half-fantastical, as though, together with his brain, they had grown to a ripe worldliness.