He was going to marry a woman who was as brilliant as she was handsome, who counted among her friends the great men and women of the time, who dwelt in a world where mediocrity is unknown and likewise unwelcome.

Mediocrity's teeth are sharp only for those who fear them.
Patty was nervous on her mother's account, not her own.

It had been a blow to the mother, who had always hoped to have her boy to herself as long as she lived.

He had never worried her with flirtations; there had been no youthful affairs.

The mother of the boy who is always falling in love can meet the final blow half-way.