It was brave to Strether to hear him talk as if the line of wisdom they had struck out was to make things ravishing to the Pococks.

No, if Madame de Vionnet compassed THAT, compassed the ravishment of the Pococks, Madame de Vionnet would be prodigious.

It would be a beautiful plan if it succeeded, and it all came to the question of Sarah's being really bribeable.

The precedent of his own case helped Strether perhaps but little to consider she might prove so; it being distinct that her character would rather make for every possible difference.

This idea of his own bribeability set him apart for himself; with the further mark in fact that his case was absolutely proved.