[The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett]@TWC D-Link bookThe Shuttle CHAPTER III 9/44
That she was an American and a New Yorker was being impressed upon poor little Lady Anstruthers in a new way--somehow as if the mere cold statement of the fact put a fine edge of sarcasm to any remark.
She was of too innocent a loyalty to wish that she was neither the one nor the other, but she did wish that Nigel was not so prejudiced against the places and people she cared for so much. She was sitting in her stateroom enfolded in a dressing gown covered with cascades of lace, tied with knots of embroidered ribbon, and her maid, Hannah, who admired her greatly, was brushing her fair long hair with a gold-backed brush, ornamented with a monogram of jewels. If she had been a French duchess of a piquant type, or an English one with an aquiline nose, she would have been beyond criticism; if she had been a plump, over-fed woman, or an ugly, ill-natured, gross one, she would have looked vulgar, but she was a little, thin, fair New Yorker, and though she was not beyond criticism--if one demanded high distinction--she was pretty and nice to look at.
But Nigel Anstruthers would not allow this to her.
His own tailors' bills being far in arrears and his pocket disgustingly empty, the sight of her ingenuous sumptuousness and the gay, accustomed simpleness of outlook with which she accepted it as her natural right, irritated him and roused his venom.
Bills would remain unpaid if she was permitted to spend her money on this sort of thing without any consideration for the requirements of other people. He inhaled the air and made a gesture of distaste. "This sachet business is rather overpowering," he said.
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